[sustran] Re: Recent overview article on Bogotá TransMilenio

[Lake Sagaris]

Excellent article, Eric. We are trying to organize a seminar here in 
Santiago next year to bring together representatives from TransMilenio and 
the bike routes-bike days experience, with bus companies, municipal 
planners and national transport people, so are looking for funding. This 
experience is really dynamic, because they managed to cut through several 
seemingly untouchable knots -- private bus ownership being one of them.

If anyone wants something in Spanish, I did an article for Tranvía on our 
return from Bogotá last year.

http://www.cec.uchile.cl/~tranvivo/tranvia/tv12/

Best
Lake





At 11:52 AM 07/11/01 +0100, you wrote:
>We've been asked for more background on the Bogotá TransMilenio
>"SurfaceMetro" system.  Here's a good overview article on it by Oscar
>Edmundo Díaz, dated 27 Sept 2001
>
>*     *     *
>
>TRANSMILENIO: BOGOTA'S BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM
>
>Bogotá, Colombia, under Enrique Peñalosa's administration initiated an
>ambitious mobility strategy to face its growing transportation problems
>caused by fast population growth and rapid increase in automobile usage.
>Measures included: promotion of non-motorized transportation, restriction of
>automobile use, and development of a bus rapid transit system: TransMilenio.
>
>TransMilenio encompasses four components:
>* Specialized infrastructure
>* Efficient operations
>* Advanced billeting
>* A new institution for planning, developing and controlling the system.
>Infrastructure, planning and control are provided by public institutions,
>while operations and billeting are contracted with private companies.
>
>TransMilenio's infrastructure includes exclusive corridors, roads for feeder
>buses, stations, and complementary facilities, with an average investment of
>US$ 5 million per kilometer.  Articulated buses use central lanes of
>existing streets, longitudinally segregated from the general traffic. The
>system is complemented with integrated feeder buses on local streets.
>
>Stations of the corridors are closed facilities, located in the median every
>500 meters on average.  They have from one to three berths and vary from 40
>meters to 180 meters in length. The system also includes pedestrian access
>infrastructure (sidewalks, plazas, overpasses), and bus maintenance and
>parking facilities.
>
>To maximize service supply, there are express and local service trunk lines.
>Express services stop at selected stations only, providing fast service to
>users and better fleet utilization, while local services stop in all the
>stations.  This combination allows the system to carry up to 45,000
>passengers per hour per direction.  Exclusive corridors are served by
>articulated diesel buses for 160 passengers each, whereas feeder lines are
>served with diesel buses up to 80 passengers each. Buses comply with strict
>operational and environmental requirements.
>
>System operation is carried out by private providers, with strict conditions
>set forth through concession contracts with centralized control.
>TransMilenio operators are  consortiums of traditional local transport
>companies, associated with national and international investors that own the
>buses and hire drivers and maintenance personnel.  Contracts were awarded
>through open bidding processes.  Payment is rendered based on kilometers
>served by each operator.
>
>The billeting system is also privately operated.  It includes production and
>distribution of smart cards, acquisition and installation of turnstiles and
>validating systems, passenger information and money handling.  A concession
>contract was awarded through an open bidding process. The money collected
>from card sales is deposited in a trust fund, which has the mandate to pay
>the operators according to the rules set forth in the concession contracts.
>
>To assure operations and work out the system expansion and maintenance, a
>new public company was created (TRANSMILENIO S.A.).  Its structure is small,
>given that it performs its charter through third parties.  Its operation is
>funded with 3% of the ticket sales and ancillary activities.
>
>TRANSMILENIO S.A. operates a Control Center which allows service and
>passenger access supervision.  Each articulated bus is equipped with a GPS
>and a processing unit reporting its location every 6 seconds. Turnstiles
>also report to the Control Center the number of passengers entering and
>leaving the system.   Supply and demand are then adjusted, and contingencies
>attended in real time.
>
>The system was developed during a three-year period. In January, 1998, the
>components required to initiate the system did not exist. A project for
>immediate implementation was not available, and there was not an institution
>capable to carry out the initiative. System implementation required detailed
>technical, legal and financial design; creation of a new public entity in
>charge of planning, developing and controlling the system; confronting
>resistance to change, especially from traditional operators and small bus
>owners; contracting and developing the infrastructure; contracting and
>starting up the operation; and obtaining local and national funds for system
>expansion.
>
>Operations started December 18, 2000.  By September, 2001, the system
>transported 550,000 trips per weekday, in 35.5 kilometers of exclusive
>lanes, 56 stations, 351 articulated buses and 110 feeder buses.  Goal
>achievement was also evident after 9 months of operation: 100% reduction in
>fatalities from traffic accidents, 40% reduction in some air pollutants, 32%
>reduction in travel time for users, and acceptance level of 98% and ticket
>cost of US$ 0.36 without operating subsidies.
>
>By the end of 2001, more than 980,000 passengers per day are expected along
>41 kilometers of exclusive lanes, 62 stations (including four terminal and
>three intermediate integration stations), 470 articulated buses, and 300
>feeder buses.  The system will be gradually expanded to 22 corridors
>covering 388 kilometers of exclusive lanes, planned for implementation in a
>15-year period.
>
>TransMilenio is based upon, but goes beyond, the successful experiences of
>Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Goiania, Brazil and Quito, Ecuador.  The system
>incorporates advanced technologies for billeting and control, and
>sustainable private participation schemes.  It is a feasible transit
>solution for cities facing problems and constraints similar to those
>existing in Bogotá.

Aviso a todos / please take note of / un cambio en mi dirección electrónica 
/ a change in my e-mail address to:
sagaris at terra.cl Gracias/Thanks.
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