In a bold and much needed effort to try and improve Bogota's transport ills, various political regimes dating back to the leadership of Mayor Enrique Penalosa in 2001, have adopted and embraced progressive themes, one of which being the Transmilenio bendy bus system.
Transmilenio Bendy Bus System
Heralded as groundbreaking and environmentally conscious, Bogota’s Transmilenio has, since its conception at the end of year 2000, been studied by various city Mayors from all over the world as a potential solution to traffic chaos. The idea was lifted from the progressive and forward thinking southern Brazilian city of Curitiba.
With its lanes bricked off to regular automobile and bus traffic, the Transmilenio seems at first to be the solution to the city’s ills but after careful consideration one can see that there are some key flaws in the design.
While the system, off-peak, is a delight to ride over the nine lines in spacious and airy buses, there has been no planning put into place for the trials of rush hour when Bogotanos cram into small spaces. The stations exceed their capacity and obviously tempers flare and pickpockets take full advantage.
What has happened is that the current system is no longer enough for a city of Bogota’s size and in 2009 new work began (due to finish in early 2010) to open up routes along the Avenida 26 to connect the centre of the city to the El Dorado Airport.
This work is not even close to being completed and reports in the national newspaper El Tiempo have cited “rampant corruption” and a “lack of planning” as major factors in this failed venture. There was even a report released in early 2010 that as little as “1 per cent” of the all of the work on the stretch of the Avenida 26 had been completed.
Bogota in Chaos
And so, the construction plods along at an alarmingly slow rate and Bogota’s citizens make do with what they have. A British tourist who preferred to remain unnamed and who was visiting Bogota in 2009 commented: “Bogota appears under attack”.
It may appear this way for as soon as one steps out of the airport and catches a taxi to the centre of the city or the Candelaria, where the key touristic destinations are located; one is faced with rerouted buses, traffic piling up at key intersections and furious motorists.
There are solutions, but city planners have warned that these will require a complete overhaul of the entire system. As it is the Transmilenio is far from environmentally friendly (as eroneously quoted in the New York Times) and runs of diesel fuel which does not aid Bogota’s already poor air quality.
In order to speed up the actual Transmilenio system more bridges over key intersections in the city need to be constructed to increase the fluidity of the bendy buses.
Unfortunately, so opinionated are the politicans involved in the project that the in-fighting and bickering and subsequent delays in modifications have hurt the city more than ever and the project's credibility and economic viability have come under scrutiny.
Enrique Penalosa the Transmilenio's Champion
The former Mayor of Bogota who championed the project and continues to sing its praises is unrepentant that the Transmilenio is the way forward for the Colombian capital. His careful rebranding and remarketing of a "bus" service so that better heeled citizens of Bogota don't feel as if they are slumming it was a masterclass in public relations, but perhaps, he needs to talk with the infuriated city dwewllers who find themselves continually delayed by poor workmanship and delayed works.
Richard McColl - I am a freelance writer from deepest darkest London but for the past 10 years or so I have been maintaining my extended "writing break" in ...
