Growth of mapped cycling infrastructure in Latin American capitals, 2014-2024

Introduction: Latin American capitals have expanded their cycling networks over the past decade, yet comparable longitudinal measures of that expansion remain scarce. OpenStreetMap history allows reconstruction of mapped cycling infrastructure at past dates. Methods: This ecological longitudinal study compared 20 Latin American capitals between 2014 and 2024. Mapped cycling infrastructure was measured with the ohsome API at 1 January of each year, and population with the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2018 revision. Growth was summarised with compound annual growth rates and provision in metres per 1,000 inhabitants. Results: Mapped infrastructure increased from 1,276.90 km in 2014 to 2,101.20 km in 2024, a pooled growth of 64.6%. The median city length rose from 6.20 to 23.20 km. Fifteen of 20 capitals grew, three declined and two remained essentially unmapped. Pooled provision rose from 13.80 to 20.10 m per 1,000 inhabitants. Conclusions: Mapped cycling infrastructure in Latin American capitals grew over the decade but was concentrated in a few cities. Apparent declines in three capitals are consistent with OpenStreetMap retagging rather than physical removal, which cautions against reading mapped length as a purely physical measure.