The bicimad overhaul, which aimed to consolidate bicycle use in Madrid and thereby promote a shift toward more sustainable modes of transportation, prioritized this type of active and healthy mobility, which also improves the environmental quality of urban spaces and the health of the population, and helps reduce private car use. The transformation and expansion of Bicimad began in 2023 with two main initiatives: first, replacing Bicimad’s fleet and technology, and second, expanding the service’s coverage to the entire city of Madrid. Regarding technological and fleet innovations, the goal was to improve the user experience and promote increased bicycle use in the city by making it more attractive. The new fleet included advancements that, among other improvements, help prevent vandalism, provide a more maneuverable, ergonomic, and robust bicycle, and offer features such as station overflow (ending trips at a full station by placing the bicycle next to it), free-floating mode (without the need for a station), and the ability to make intermediate stops.
The new stations also feature an innovative design to accommodate different needs (they are modular and can be scaled up or down) and withstand vandalism, corrosion, exposure to the elements, and the test of time. Additionally, Bicimad was integrated into MPass, the single-account system linked to all EMT Madrid services (buses, parking lots, Bicimad, and bike racks), which eliminated the need to preload the Bicimad wallet: by linking a payment method, users are charged for trips taken or for any passes they’ve purchased. Furthermore, the service’s coverage was expanded to include all 21 districts of the capital. During this initial phase and the subsequent expansion in 2024, the system’s growth has reached 630 stations and 7,735 bicycles distributed throughout the city—more than double the number of bicycles and stations that existed previously. This expansion and technological transformation has received maximum funding from the NextGenerationEU funds in the amount of €40,738,680.80. These funds were obtained through two grant programs managed by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility: the 2021 Grant Program for Municipalities to Implement Low-Emission Zones and the Digital and Sustainable Transformation of Urban Transport (MITMA ZBE 2021) and the 2022 Low-Emission Zone Program.
Subsequently, in 2026, Bicimad expanded its service with 20 new stations and 245 new bicycles, a project that received one million euros in funding from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism’s Tourism Sustainability Plans for Destinations, channeled through the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan using NextGenerationEU funds.