BOGOTÁ -- For hours Thursday night, arepa vendors and bundled-up couples dodged skateboarders and cyclists for a massive evening ciclovia that marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

Ciclovia — “bike lane’’ in Spanish — is one of Colombia’s most successful exports. ciclovias Starting in 1974, this Andean nation began closing down major streets of the capital to make way for bikers, walkers and joggers. Now, every Sunday, holiday and some special occasions, some 700,000 people turn those streets ciclovias, into a massive urban park that winds 75 miles through the city.

“Some people complain that the ciclovia paralyzes the traffic,” said Patricia Pérez, who was walking with her dog and two children Thursday night admiring Christmas lights. “But it’s worth it. It lets you get out of the house and de-stress.”

Although the name refers to bike lanes, the roads are so crowded with pedestrians, pets and joggers that biking can be a challenge.

In the past, the big event that kicks off the Christmas season has drawn an estimated 2.8 million to 3 million people — or about a third of Bogotá’s population, the city said. That’s as if every person in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties poured onto the streets.

EXPORT

The concept has been exported as far away as Canada, Peru, Chile and Mexico. Portland and San Francisco have copied the model. Miami, briefly, rolled out a monthly bike ride downtown after former Mayor Manny Diaz talked to his counterparts in Bogotá.

“The ciclovia is like a positive epidemic,” said Jorge Mauricio Ramos, who coordinates the program for the city’s District Institute for Sports and Recreation. “We have people come from all over the world to look at our model — Bogotá is undoubtedly the reference point.”

Ciclovia arepa ciclovia

ciclovia

The ciclovia hasn’t always been a hit. By the early 1990s, the route had been reduced to just a few miles and the program was dying, said Gil Peñalosa, who worked on the project at the time under former Mayor Antanas Mockus.

“There was no budget, there was no interest and people were asking the city to reduce the routes even further,” he said.

Peñalosa said he became obsessed with the idea of saving the ciclovia; he saw it as the equivalent of New York City’s Central Park — a place where Bogotanos from all walks of life could rub shoulders.

“It’s one of the few places where the country’s richest people might bump into workers who are making minimum wage, and they are both having fun,” Peñalosa said. “This is an exercise in social coexistence.”

Under Mockus and his successor, Enrique Peñalosa, who is Gil’s brother, the program slowly expanded and now links the wealthy north with the working class south.

Along the route, there are city-authorized bike mechanics, food vendors and even veterinary tents.

Gil Peñalosa went on to found 8-80 Cities, a Toronto-based organization that promotes public spaces and ciclovias around the world.

Growing pains

While Bogotá’s paved parks have become a beloved institution, the concept has seen growing pains elsewhere. Many cities have rolled them out only to see them whither due to lack of support.