Ecobici to Expand in 2026 as Mexico City Reports Record Ridership

Mexico City is closing the year highlighting Ecobici as a centerpiece of its push for sustainable mobility, cyclist community-building, and people-first urban transformation. Now described as Latin America’s most-used public bike system, Ecobici operates with over 9,300 bicycles and 689 docking stations, supporting an average of about 60,000 trips per day as residents increasingly rely on bikes for everyday commuting.

Ecobici’s strongest signal of “mainstream” adoption is commuting: 67% of users ride to work or school, underscoring how public bicycles have become integrated into the city’s routine mobility. Typical trips last 20 to 25 minutes, with the highest demand concentrated in two daily peaks, 07:00 to 10:00 and 17:00 to 20:00, when the system can log up to 25,000 trips.

The system runs 24/7 through operational “rebalancing” to keep bicycles available where demand is highest. Mexico City says real-time monitoring helps maintain availability above 94%, even under intensive usage of up to 10 trips per bicycle per day, about double an international benchmark referenced by the government.

Beyond ridership, the city is emphasizing environmental gains. Between 2022 and 2025, Ecobici is credited with avoiding more than 3,200 tons of CO₂ contaminants, an impact the city equates to planting 157,000 urban trees or taking thousands of private cars off the road.

Ecobici enables over 14 million trips per year, a distance it compares to circling the globe more than 290 times, say authorities. In “energy-equivalent” terms, the reported emissions reductions are likened to powering 4 million LED bulbs for a full day, while the cumulative time spent across 60,000 daily trips is compared to listening to more than 20,000 one-hour playlists, or watching a two-hour movie 52,000 times.

Recent system growth has been especially pronounced in ridership. In 2024, Ecobici trips jumped 83% versus 2023, reaching 22.24 million trips, up from 12.18 million the year prior, an average of 71,619 daily trips in 2024, MBN reports.

That usage increase followed a major renovation and expansion completed in August 2024 after more than two years of development. The project upgraded infrastructure, added stations and bicycles, and integrated new technology and equipment. Coverage expanded to six boroughs and widened from 55 to 118 neighborhoods.

By the end of the upgrade, the fleet had grown 51.3% from 6,150 to 9,308 bicycles, while docking stations increased 43.1% from 480 to 687 (reported in current figures as 689 stations). Notably, the city says program costs fell 60.4% under a contract model in which the service provider acquires and deploys the required assets.

Under this multiyear arrangement, Mexico City will pay a total of MX$544 million, with no upfront public investment required for the system’s physical assets. Sponsorship and limited advertising were also incorporated as additional funding streams to support operations and future expansion.

Looking ahead, the city is positioning 2026 as a new stage for Ecobici, designed to meet rising demand and extend service deeper into the capital. Priorities include expanding coverage toward the north, south, and east of the city, scaling the fleet to 15,000 bicycles in 2026 and adding 5,000 more in 2027, and rolling out technology upgrades alongside strengthened security processes.

The expansion roadmap is also tied to Mexico City’s preparations to receive visitors during the next FIFA World Cup, with the city explicitly framing public bikes as part of last-mile mobility capacity.

Mayor Clara Brugada’s administration has placed active mobility and last-mile transport at the center of its broader mobility narrative, reinforcing a vision of “a connected, clean, and equitable city.” While an October mobility plan highlighted a target framed as doubling the network (citing 7,000 bicycles and 500 stations), the system’s completed modernization has already pushed the network beyond those figures, setting the stage for an even larger expansion push in 2026 and 2027.