PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN BOGOTA: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES Facultad de Ingeniería Universidad de Los Andes Eduardo Behrentz Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) Sustainable Smart Cities Symposium The University of Alabama at Birmingham - June 2014

CONTEXT AND BRIEF HISTORY

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BOGOTA IN NUMBERS Founded in Colombia´s capital and largest city. 8 million people in 400 square kilometers (200 hab/ha). 90 billion U.S. dollars GDP ($11,000 p.c).

15 million daily trips and 70 million VKT. ~ 15,000 road kilometers (quality). CO 2 emissions = 20 million tons per year. 1.5 million vehicles (60,000 taxis, 20,000 transit buses, 400,000 motorcycles) – 150 vehicles (per 1,000 p).

6 Daily Trip Distribution (a couple of years ago)

Bogota has doubled its vehicle fleet in 10 years

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CURRENT ISSUES 9

10 Social and economic costs – 8 billion dollars in 10 years

11 This is not Bogota…Just yet

12 THE SOLUTION: INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM Central planning. Single authority. Unified fare collection. Mode integration. No competition within the market.

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18 This requires either publicly owned fleets or heavily regulated markets

19 Impact on PM 2.5 Emissions > 50% Reduction

20 Impact on CO 2 Emissions

21 And the future is even more promising…

FINAL REMARKS Improving public transportation is the single most effective measure to reduce air pollution and its harmful effects (in urban centers of the developing world). It is also the best strategy to avoid usage of private vehicles (far better than restrictive measures). Growing Latin American cites must seize the opportunity of high shares of public transportation – The window is closing rapidly and there is no easy way back. Beware of the motorcycle – Bad service leads to its massive use (Asia is losing the battle). 22

GRACIAS Eduardo Behrentz, Ph.D. 23