Bikes, Metro: How We Get to Move

I took the Barcelona metro on my own for the first time in Barcelona when doing some exploring on my own. While that might sound small, it opened my eyes to how much urban transportation reflects access, planning, and policy questions. In both Barcelona and Girona, I’ve been paying close attention to how people move, and it’s rarely by car. Most locals rely on public transit, biking, or walking, and that says a lot about what these cities prioritize. Through this experience, I saw real-world connections to POL 399, where I researched how urban design reflects power, and POL 150, where we looked at how governments express their ideologies through law and polices.

In Barcelona, taking the metro was surprisingly very easy. It has easy access with my Metro card, and is clearly prioritized in the city’s layout. Unlike many U.S. cities that treat public transit as a backup for those without cars, Barcelona makes it central. I couldn’t help but think about the “Pels trens que ens mereixem” protest slide I saw at the Catalan National Assembly—people here actually protest for better train access because they see it as a right. This fits into my research on who has the right to move freely and affordably in a city. And how does transit shape who stays, who leaves, and who belongs? 

Meanwhile, in Girona, biking is everywhere, but it’s not as free-form as it looks. One of my professors and a tour guide explained that there are bike restrictions in certain zones, and if you ride through the wrong area, you can be fined, even if the signs aren’t always visible. Sometimes the only warning is on a map, not in the space itself. This really reminded me of topics we had in POL 150 about citizenship and democracy. Laws and rights don’t mean much if people can’t actually understand or access them. If transit rules are hidden or unclear, who are they really serving? The political system can be both empowering and exclusionary, depending on how inclusive the system is.

From a planning perspective, both cities clearly want to promote greener, more walkable transportation. But there’s tension in how that’s enforced. In POL 399, I read about how regulations meant to improve the city, like superblocks or traffic restrictions, can also make it harder for certain people (especially non-locals or low-income residents) to navigate space. It connects to the source I used on green gentrification in Barcelona, where environmental goals unintentionally pushed people out. Even transit policies, if not thoughtfully applied, can limit mobility or deepen inequality.

What I’ve come to realize is that transportation isn’t just about getting from point A to B, but it’s about how a city treats its people. Do they have options? Are they affordable? Do the rules make sense? Ideas of citizenship and state responsibility, which we’ve explored in POL 150, appear quite frequently in local land use. Moving through Barcelona and Girona, riding the metro or a bike is one way to see the city’s values.

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