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Bicimad breaks its ceiling: almost 86,000 trips in one day in Madrid
Bicimad has just reached an unprecedented figure in Madrid. The municipal electric bicycle service recorded 85,882 trips in a single day this Tuesday, 8 September, the highest number since it began and a new high for a system that had already been setting records during the past year.
The figure coincided with the second of two free-fare days organised by the City Council for the return to schools and work after summer. On Monday 7 and Tuesday 8, every Bicimad journey of up to 30 minutes was free.
The new record also surpasses one set only three months earlier. During Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Madrid, the service recorded 80,272 journeys in a day. Until then, the previous high dated from 8 September 2025, when 66,605 trips were made, also on a free-fare day.
In just one year, Bicimad’s daily ceiling has therefore risen from just over 66,000 trips to almost 86,000. The growth coincides with the expansion of a network that now exceeds 680 stations and 8,000 electric bicycles.
The expansion has also changed the service map. Since the comprehensive renewal that began in 2023, Bicimad has reached all 21 Madrid districts for the first time, and this year it has continued adding stations in areas such as Barajas, Hortaleza, Moncloa-Aravaca, Puente de Vallecas, Vicálvaro and Villaverde.
September’s free fares did not affect bicycles alone. EMT buses were also free on both days, except for the Exprés Aeropuerto route. On Bicimad, the concession was limited to the first 30 minutes of each trip.
The City Council uses these days especially when it expects major increases in mobility, such as the return to work and classes, and considers retaining the formula during future episodes of high demand or pollution. The municipal aim is to make alternatives to private vehicles easier at times especially difficult for traffic.
The record does not, however, by itself allow anyone to say that fewer cars travelled through Madrid that Tuesday or to measure how much traffic Bicimad avoided. What it does show is the system’s capacity to absorb much greater demand when the cost of a journey temporarily disappears.
The figure for 8 September now sets a new benchmark: 85,882 uses in 24 hours. Exactly a year earlier, exceeding 66,000 was already Bicimad’s historic record.