Transantiago
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Transantiago is a deep and comprehensive improvement plan for the public transport system in Chile's capital Santiago. It began in October 2005 and aims to replace an older, chaotic system of public transportation run by thousands of independent bus operators. The bus system will be divided into two subsystems, which will be complementary to the metro network: main bus lines that will allow long trips through the city and local bus lines that will feed both the metro and the main bus lines. In addition, the fare system will be integrated, allowing passengers to transfer between buses and metro with a single fare system, and payment will be made using the Multivia card. The operation of the buses was tendered to ten formal companies. Full implementation of the system is expected to be completed in 2010, at the bicentennial of the country's independence.
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[edit] Details
Transantiago's first stage of implementation began on October 22, 2005, when a group of ten new companies took control of the capital's bus system, immediately introducing 1,181 new modern low-floor buses (approximately half of them being articulated) made by Volvo in Brazil, replacing 461 yellow-colored buses from the old system. The new buses will temporarily coexist with the over 7,000 existing older buses, that will be gradually withdrawn from the system until 2010. Transantiago is expected to become fully operational on February 2007 by the introduction of a new route system that divides the bus lines into two complementary groups: main and local lines. In addition, a new fare structure will be implemented, allowing transfers at small or zero fares between buses and metro, when using the new contactless smartcard. A users' information system will also be introduced. 1,776 new buses will operate at this stage. The older yellow-colored buses will only operate through the secondary local lines in conjunction with new but simpler buses. It is expected that by 2010, the older buses will be completely replaced by over 4,600 new vehicles.
[edit] Objectives
- Encouraging the use of public transport.
- Enhancing the quality of public transport, eliminating the on-the-street competition and replacing the existing bus fleet.
- Palliating the city's high air pollution levels by reducing the number of buses from over 7,000 to about 4,600, and by reducing the emission levels of the buses.
- Reducing travel times.
[edit] New lines structure
After the full implementation of the plan, bus services will be divided into two subsystems. The first subsystem corresponds to the main bus lines, which complementing the metro network will allow long trips between different zones of the city. The second subsystem correspond to the local (or feeder) bus lines, which allow short trips and feed the metro and main bus lines. Local services will be organized in ten units, each of one corresponding to one or more municipalities of Santiago.
[edit] New fare structure
An integrated fares scheme will be introduced for buses and metro, allowing to transfer for free or paying a small transfer charge. This fare scheme considers two basic fares (local and main fares), in addition to the transfer fares.
The local fare will allow local trips inside a local area, also allowing free transfers between local services in that area. The main fare will be a little higher and will allow trips both in the main bus lines and metro, including free transfers between them. Finally, a transfer fare will have to be paid when transferring between a main bus service (or metro) and a local service. This transfer fare will be much smaller than the basic fares. As was before, students will be allowed to pay reduced fares, at 35% of the normal ones.
Fares will be adjusted periodically, according to the changes in the main input prices (fuel, etc.) of the operators. The way in which the fare adjustments is calculated has been established in the operation contracts. Therefore, neither operators nor the authorities will be able to change the fares at will.
[edit] Payment system and finance administration
The main payment system of Transantiago will be a contactless smartcard called Multivia, which was previously operated by the metro. This card will be used both in buses and metro as a prepaid card. The access to the reduced or free transfer fares will only be possible when using this card, as the electronic system associated to the card will automatically recognize if the user is starting his trip or just making a transfer. In this way, the system can decide if the basic fare has to be charged or if a transfer or free fare applies. Passengers which do not have the card may pay in cash, but a higher fare without possibility of reduced transfers.
The operation of the payment system was tendered to a private company. Its main tasks are the distribution and charging of the card, the administration of the revenues and the payment to the operators, according to the rules established in the contracts.
[edit] Users' information
Another component of the system is the information manager and users' information provider, which was tendered and awarded to the private company Tata-Comicrom in 2006. Its main tasks are: provide information for the users both before and after the implementation of the system, provide information about the localization of the buses to the operators and coordinate emergencies with the relevant bodies.
[edit] Vehicles
Until 2010 there will be both new Transantiago-standard and old buses in operation. In comparison to the old buses of Santiago, the main novelties of the new ones are that they will have at least 50% of low floor and that they have a blocking system that does not allow the movement of the bus before all doors are closed. Since 2003, all new buses in Santiago fulfill the emission norm Euro III.
After the implementation of the new lines structure, the main bus lines will be operated with articulated (18 meters long) and normal buses, while the local services will be operated with normal buses and minibuses.
[edit] Technical characteristics of the vehicles
Most of the low-floor buses for Transantiago were built by Volvo. Several operating companies of Transantiago bought 1,157 articulated buses B9SALF and 510 normal (12 meters long) buses B7RLE.
The articulated B9SALF Volvo bus has a capacity of approximately 160 passengers, four double doors, 100% low floor, a length of 18.5 meters and a width of 2.5 meters. The engine is on the left side between the first and second axis (i.e. behind the driver) and has a power of 340 hp. (More technical information can be found in the technical specifications of the Volvo B9SALF.)
The Volvo B7RLE bus, with a capacity of approximately 80 passengers, has three double doors and low floor between the first and second doors. It has a length of 12 meters and a wide of 2.5 meters. The engine is in the back of the vehicle and has 7,000 cm³. (Additional technical information can be found in the technical specifications of the Volvo B7RLE.)
[edit] References
- Gschwender, Antonio (2005) Improving the urban public transport in developing countries: the design of a new integrated system in Santiago de Chile. 9th Conference of Competition and Ownership in Land Transport (Thredbo9), Lisbon, Portugal.
- Minteguiaga, Jorge (2006) Transantiago: redesigning public transport in Santiago, Chile. Public Transport International, 55, 6/2006, 16-19. ISSN-1016-796X.
