One year after the bike path opened, only the two segments of trail running through Chapultepec Park are seeing regular use.

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN

It's morning rush hour on the the Periférico, the city's massive beltway, on a stretch through a relatively rural area of the Álvaro Obregón precinct. Even with a newly opened second tier on the motor way, traffic is at a a virtual standstill. A few yards away, on an old railroad bed running parallel to the highway, the bike path is practically empty.

At 10 a.m. it's the same story: bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roadway, and a deserted bike path. Twenty minutes pass before a single cyclist appears on the trail. His name is Marcos Santander, and he says he uses the path as a way to avoid the perpetual traffic jams and to exercise at the same time. Yet he laments that the lack of lighting along the trail and the insecurity that renders the trail unusable at night.

Furthermore, he says that the 90 km. of trail in a metropolis as massive as Mexico City is insufficient. "We need even more bike trails; what we need is a network that connects the entire city."

Thirty-five minutes later, Ismael Galván passes by. He's a recreational user of the trail who enjoys the sport of cycling, but he only rides the path about once a week, he says, because of the risks involved.

"You're a bit isolated on the trail," he says. "That, and the fact that it's not well maintained are the things that I don't like about it."

Only two riders passed by in one hour of observation along this segment of trail, and the same scenario repeated itself later at an urban stretch of path running along Chapultepec Avenue. Here, four riders were spotted during 60 minutes of surveillance.

Don Fausto is one of those who passes along the track, though he says that he usually finds it easier to ride along the side of the street.

"A lot of people use the bike path for walking," he explains. "So if you're going along the trail and knock into a pedestrian, they get angry. So you have to go slowly, and if you're on your way to work or something like that, you can't afford to go slow."

DANGER, WIDE LOAD

In fact, many of those who use the trail in the city proper are working as delivery people. And many of these folks, though they recognize the benefit of the bike route, complain of the dangers that lie at each point where car traffic crosses the path.

They also say that the path is too narrow, especially for the three-wheeled delivery bikes that many of them use.

"Really, it's quite practical for us who are moving cargo but who can't travel rapidly on the city streets," says don Chava, who works delivering jugs of water. "the problem comes when two of us meet and there's barely enough room for us to get by not to mention if there's a person walking the trail at the same time."

After an hour at a secluded length of trail and another at an urban section, the third stop on EL UNIVERSAL's survey came at Chapultepec Park. Here, usage was only steady in relative terms, as 11 cyclists cruised past during an hour of observation.

These riders, however, were not using the trail for work-related purposes, but rather for exercise.

Emmanuel Trejo comes to the park to work out on his bike almost daily, but he doesn't view the trail as a realistic form of alternative transportation.

"I don't see it as a transportation route because it doesn't reach all parts of the city," said Trejo. "I don't want to ride along any of the high-speed avenues because drivers just don't respect bicyclists."

Of the cyclists encountered that day, only a man named Salvador uses the bike path for his daily commute to work. But he has an advantage: the area where he lives (Polanco) and the area where he works (Periférico) are connected by the trail. And with that fortunate circumstance, he is able to use the route for its intended purpose: reducing auto traffic in the the city.

"Before, by car, it took me 45 minutes to get to work," he says. "Now I do it in 15. The path is a good thing, they just need to expand it and make sure that it has proper maintenance so that more people use it."