Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The City Council is stepping up its communication campaign to make the public aware of the changes to the Byelaw on Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic (OCVV) and the change in habits it will require before it comes into force on 1 February and for the first few weeks after it enters into effect. Some 20 information officers will be out on the streets explaining the new rules and clearing up any doubts at sixty different points and areas across the city.

As of this Thursday, 2 January, and for two months, Barcelona City Council will be sending 20 information officers out onto the streets across the city to make citizens aware of the changes to the Byelaw on Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic (OCVV), which will come into force on 1 February. The main changes to the regulation will require a change in habits among citizens. Examples include the requirement to wear a helmet when driving a personal mobility vehicle (PMV), the ban on driving PMVs and bicycles on the pavement and also on parking motorcycles at the entrances to schools and hospitals.

So, during the months of January and February, 10 teams of two information officers, one team per district, will be stationed at different times of the day at some sixty points and areas selected by mobility officers from the City Council and the districts. The points and areas selected include busy cycle lanes, streets with large numbers of pedestrians and areas around schools and hospitals. The teams will be out on the streets at different times over the course of the campaign to ensure all times of the day are covered. They will also be informing bicycle and scooter sale and repair shops and establishments of the changes to the regulations and leaving information leaflets for their customers.

Municipal facilities and Citizen Help and Information Centres will also be providing leaflets on the new regulations to service users. In an attempt to reach all city residents, the City Council will also be launching a publicity campaign to be delivered through print and digital media outlets and radio stations.

The new regulation comes into force on 1 February, and the Guàrdia Urbana city police force will then have the power to report any breaches detected. Penalties for breaches of the regulations range from 50 to 500 euros, depending on the seriousness of the offence.

PMV: helmet obligatory and clearer regulations

The new Byelaw particularly seeks to ensure that the regulations on the use of PMVs are clearer. The new OCVV defines PMVs as single-person vehicles, which means they can only be driven by one person at a time, and lists the essential safety elements required by users of these vehicles: it will be obligatory to wear a helmet and the vehicle should have front and rear lights.

The current regulation already prohibited the use of PMVs by minors under the age of 16 and stipulated that they could only be used in cycle lanes and on roads with a speed limit of 30 km per hour or lower. In this regard, the changes to the OCVV clarify the conditions of use for these vehicles, prohibiting their use on roads with a 50 km per hour speed limit and setting the maximum speed at 25 km per hour, reduced to 10 km per hour in cycle lanes on the pavement.

With regard to penalties, users will face a 100 euro fine for not wearing a helmet, if more than one person rides on the PMV and for not having front and rear lights fitted. A fine of 200 euros will be imposed if the PMV is used by persons under 16 years of age and there will be a 500 euro fine for using the vehicle on a road with a 50 km per hour speed limit.

Keeping pavements for pedestrians

One of the municipal government’s aims with the new Byelaw is to ensure pavements are reserved for pedestrians. For this reason, the new regulation prohibits the use of both bicycles and PMVs on the pavement and ensures this space is reserved exclusively for people making journeys on foot. This measure will be made compatible with the protection of children and will not be applied in the case of children, since minors under the age of 12 and the adults that accompany them will be able to ride their bikes on the pavement, and this is extended to minors up to 14 years of age on streets without cycle lanes.

Also, on streets without cycle lanes, adults carrying a child on their bicycle will be allowed to ride on the pavement Children may only be carried by people over the age of 18, and only in a trailer or child seat officially approved for the child’s weight. Except for these situations, riding on the pavement will result in a fine of 500 euros.

It will also be permitted to ride bicycles in pedestrian areas authorised for use by cyclists. In any case, the new regulation will also make it a requirement for cyclists and PMV users to dismount in busy pedestrian areas.

New restrictions on parking motorcycles on the pavement

To help ensure pavements are reserved for pedestrians, the amended OCVV stipulates that motorcycles are prohibited from parking near pedestrian entrances to schools and hospitals, as a means of improving coexistence and ensuring pedestrians have priority entering, leaving and being in these particularly sensitive areas. Motorcyclists who park in these spaces from 1 February will face a fine of 500 euros.

The new Byelaw also explicitly prohibits parking in spaces adjacent to bicycle parking spaces, in pedestrian entrances, in cycle lanes and in places where they obstruct the use of waste containers. At the same time, it also prohibits chaining these vehicles to trees, traffic lights, benches, waste containers, litter bins and transport stops, as well as any other urban furniture elements when this hinders the passage of pedestrians or prevents the element from being used for its intended purpose or hinders its functionality.

Fostering cycling logistics and last mile delivery

On the other hand, the new regulation sets specific conditions for the use of public space by bicycles and PMVs used for urban goods distribution, with the aim of improving the conditions under which cycles and PMVs used for this purpose operate. Under the new regulations, these vehicles will be able to use authorised loading and unloading spaces under the same conditions as all other motor vehicles. Cycles and PMVs used for loading and unloading goods will also be able to stop in spaces on pavements where motorcycles are permitted to park, if there is not an authorised loading and unloading space nearby.

With regard to cycling infrastructure, the new regulation explicitly prohibits loading and unloading activities from being carried out by any vehicle in cycle lanes, with breaches of this rule carrying a 200 euro fine.