Introduction

Cycling has become an increasingly prevalent topic of research not only in the Global North but also in the South. In the North, it has been analysed as a strategy for improving both public and individual health (Dill, 2009; Fernández-Heredia et al, 2014; Taino et al, 2016), and through the lens of economic development (Flusche, 2012), social inclusion and gentrification (Stein, 2011; Daly, 2014; Hoffmann, 2016). In Brazil, studies have been conducted in the field of behaviour science and ‘traffic psychology’ (Pezzuto, 2002; Araújo et al, 2009), as well as social and economic analyses (Sá et al, 2016), and research on factors that might influence the use of bicycle that might serve to provide input on the planning of new infrastructure for cycling (Sousa, 2012).

This chapter seeks to contribute to the debate about cycling policies by examining the struggles that help bring cycling to the political agenda. In this sense, this chapter is tightly related to the study of Amsterdam in Chapter 7 (this volume), but from the perspective of a completely different urban context: São Paulo. Not only do the two cities differ dramatically in size and their respective share of bicycle users, but they also diverge in that advocacy for cycling infrastructure in São Paulo started in a context in which the urban form was already dominated by automotive-oriented transportation infrastructure. The initial political mobilisation for bicycling also occurred at a moment of political instability in the 1980s during the re-democratisation of the country, with the cycling agenda reaching the higher level of institutionalisation after one of the most massive protest movements in the history of Brazil.

In mid-2013, prompted by an increase in bus fares, a series of mass protests took place in São Paulo against the poor condition of the public transit system and urban circulation in general. Other issues were incorporated along the way, and these demonstrations became known as ‘Jornadas de Junho’ (Protests of June). Led by the Movement for Free Fares (in Portuguese, Movimento Passe Livre), this was ‘one of those moments in which society's capacity to intervene on politics widens, sweeping away the fragile certainties that mark the routine game of institutional politics’ (Tatagiba, 2014: 35).