TransMilenio

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Calle 19 Station in July 2004
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Calle 19 Station in July 2004

The TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit system that serves Bogotá, Colombia. As of November 2005, the TransMilenio runs throughout the whole city, covering Av. Caracas, Calle 80, Autopista Norte, Av. Jiménez, NQS ("Norte Quito Sur"), Calle 13, Av. de las Américas, and Av. Suba. The system opened to the public on December 2000, covering Av. Caracas and Calle 80. Other routes were added gradually over the next 5 years. The project consists of seven phases: Phase III, beginning in 2006, will include Carrera 7ma, Carrera 10ma, and Av. El Dorado.

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[edit] Structure

Based on the successful model used in Curitiba, Brazil, the TransMilenio consists of numerous elevated stations in the center of a main avenue, or "troncal". Users pay at the station and await the arrival of the bus, whose doors open at the same time as the sliding glass doors of the station. A Dedicated lane on each side of the station allows express buses to pass through without stopping while other buses stop to allow passengers in or out. In order to guarantee the new model's success, the District government hired first-rate consultants. International consulting firm McKinsey & Co. was hired as project manager and leading local investment bank Capitalcorp S.A. was assigned the financial structuring of the project.

The buses are diesel-powered, purchased from such manufacturers as the Brazilian company Marcopolo and German conglomerate Mercedes-Benz. The buses are articulated (split into two sections with an accordion-like rotating middle to allow for sharp turns) and have a capacity of 150 passengers.

As of November 2005, the fare was 1300 Colombian pesos for a single trip (about EUR 0.40 or USD 0.50). Cards use a contactless smart card (MIFARE) system, and it is possible to purchase multiple trips for one card. Most users are distrustful and purchase only one or two trips at a time, due to problems with the cards at the launch of the system. Although the technical problems have been fixed, there are no financial incentives (discounts) for multiple purchases or public education campaigns (as have been recommended by urban planning consultants).

An additional set of regular buses, known as "feeders" (alimentadores, in Spanish), transport users from certain important stations to many different locations that the main route does not reach. Unlike the main TransMilenio buses, feeders operate without dedicated lanes, are not articulated and are green (regular TransMilenio buses are red). There is no additional fare in order to use the feeder buses.

Although TransMilenio stations comply with easy access regulations by virtue of being elevated and having ramps leading to the entrance, the alimentadores are normal buses without handicapped accessibility. A lawsuit by disabled user Daniel Bermúdez caused a ruling that all feeder systems must comply with easy access regulations by 2004, but this has yet to occur.

[edit] Routes

In May 2006 the TransMilenio Route System changed dramatically, with new sections added to the system. Instead of being numbered, routes have a combination of letters and numbers.

New Map

Old Map

[edit] Stations

There are five types of stations:

  • Sencillas (Simple): local service stations, located approximately every 500 m.
  • De transferencia (Transfer): allow transfer between different lines through a tunnel.
  • Sin intercambio (No transfer): do not allow transfer from the north-south line to the south-north line; located on the Autopista Norte and Avenida NQS.
  • Intermedias (Intermediate): service both the feeder and trunk lines.
  • Cabecera (Portal): at the entrances to the city. In addition to feeders and articulated buses, intercity buses from the metropolitan area also arrive at these stations.

All stations have electronic boards announcing the approximate arrival time of the next bus, and maps of the system. There are also station attendants to provide assistance to the passengers.

TransMilenio has 114 stations distributed as follows, according to the new routes:

For more information:

Main article: List of TransMilenio Stations

[edit] Criticisms

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Most users will agree that TransMilenio is a vast improvement over Bogotá's previous public transit system, especially in comparison with the chaotic systems in place in cities like Lima, Peru. There are a number of criticisms based on the way the system works:

  • Buses and stations are often packed to or beyond safe operating capacity, even during non-rush hour periods. This can be attributed to inadequate planning and response times as well as to the small capacity (150 passengers) of the buses. Modern metro trains can hold up to 1000 passengers, and buses in the Curitiba system hold up to 270. Additionally, the private contractors that run the system don't put to work as many buses as they could in order to increase their profits by saving in gas and maintenance expenses, so often and even at rush hours there can be times when 10 minutes go by and not a single bus passes.
  • The use of diesel buses instead of clean-burning natural gas or electric-powered light rail is best defined as an economic decision made to benefit TransMilenio, S.A. (a private contractor), and not the best interests of the city. Diesel pollution has a much greater impact in a high-altitude city like Bogotá than at sea level (Bogotá is 2,600 meters above sea level). Diesel-powered buses also produce more noise pollution than comparable natural gas-powered buses. On the other side, there are important reasons not to use natural gas, the main one been that at the altitude of Bogotá the combustion is not as efficient as is needed. In various tests made with experimental buses, it was shown that running on natural gas the buses could face troubles getting over bridges when fully loaded. It is important to notice that in order to get to Suba a high hill has to be traversed.
  • The stations have uncovered spots where, when it rains, passengers cannot avoid getting wet as they walk from one end of the station to the other.
  • Because TransMilenio is based on diesel rather than electric energy (like a subway), its costs increase with increasing oil prices and have raised the fare.
  • Many users complain about pickpocketing inside the buses, a problem which is made worse by the great extent to which the buses are packed.

Regardless, the system is considered by urban planners to be another shining example of how efficient, safe, and orderly public transit systems can be created without significant investment or disruption, however it was concluded in a recent forum made by the government that this is a short-term solution and that the construction of a subway or a metro is inevitable. There is a reason why almost all big cities have those systems instead of bus based one.

[edit] Protests

On May 2 and May 3, 2006, several groups of ordinary bus drivers not related with TransMilenio held a strike, protesting against some elements and consequences of the implementation of the system. They disagreed with the amount of monetary compensation that they would receive in exchange for the disposal of old buses (10 to more than 20 years old), traffic restrictions on the TransMilenio main lines, and a new Pico y Placa Ambiental in some city areas, that would restrict the schedules of 10-year-old buses to early morning hours in order to reduce pollution in the city.

Some of the larger bus companies, which participate in TransMilenio, also retired their conventional bus lines during the strike. Public transportation ground to a halt in much of the city, though TransMilenio and a number of other buses continued operating they could not cope with all of the demand. Acts of individual intimidation and violence against some private vehicles, TransMilenio and conventional buses occurred during the strike, as well as clashes between some of the strikers and the police.

An interesting thing about that protest was that the major violent acts were committed by users of TransMilenio who were desperate because the buses were passing at a very low frecuency and the stations were so filled up that some people fell from them into the street. Several protests have been held since then by TransMilenio passengers who find the system inefficient and uncomfortable, but very little has changed.

Bogotá's Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzón rejected the strike, firmly defended all of the measures as necessary for the city's transportation future, and stated that he was only willing to discuss the specific details of their implementation, as well as a further democratization of TransMilenio's operations, after the situation calmed down. During the second and final day of the strike, the local administration, the strikers and their companies agreed to begin talks.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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