Traffic in Bogotà

BOGOTÁ AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT. Bogotá as you probably know, is a massive city and the capital of Colombia, a beautiful country located in Latin America. This city has a population of around 8 million people.

Thus, has a rather large public transportation system that has been advanced in the last millenium. In this document, we are going to acquire some knowledge about public transport including some experiences as a tourist, the public transport system in Bogota can be a bit intimidating. That’s why, in this post, we are going to talk a little bit about the public transportation services available in Bogota and how they can help you during your travels there!

First of all, a key part of the public transportation system in Bogota is the TransMilenio system. TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit system (BRT) that runs all over the city. You can take TransMilenio to and from the El Dorado Airport, to the historic city centre of Bogota (Candelaria, Monserrate, Gold Museum, etc…), to the neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city (Suba, Usaquen, etc…),

and most of the tourist attractions zones.

TransMilenio, like most public transport systems, has various lines of service that are all characterized by a combination of different colours, numbers, and letters, all clearly marked at TransMilenio stations and on maps. Most lines of TransMilenio run from around 5 am until 11:15 pm.

However, make sure to check the exact schedules of different service lines using the following official link before making a journey early in the morning or late at night, as some services do not start until 6 am and others end well before 11:15 pm.

Also, be warned that during peak hours, TransMilenio can be very full. If you want a little more space during your journey as well as a cheaper ticket, try to plan travel outside peak hours (5 am-9 am and 4 pm-7 pm).

While TransMilenio has several “trunks” (in Spanish, “troncales”) that provide separate lanes especially for TransMilenio buses throughout the better part of the city, there are also “Feeder Buses” for TransMilenio that

transport people to areas located away from the main service trunks.

These buses can take you to areas not serviced by TransMilenio, such as many residential areas. You can check the website for more information about all the Feeder Buses; however, it may be easier to simply ask once at a TransMilenio station. It will be highly unlikely you’ll need to use one of these Feeder Buses. But, just in case…

To use both the main TransMilenio trunk service and Feeder Buses, you’ll need to have purchased either a one-use ticket or purchase and add credit to a Frequent User Card.

Unless you are really only going to use TransMilenio one time, it will save you time and money to just get a Frequent User Card and add money as you need it. You can add money to the card in various places around the city, including shopping centres and TransMilenio stations through automatic credit machines—like the way you would add credit to your Oyster card.

While it may seem a bit hectic at first, TransMilenio is a very fast and

efficient way of getting around Bogotá. And, perhaps, one of the greatest benefits you’ll gain by using TransMilenio is that you’ll be able to bypass most of Bogotá´s infamous traffic jams.

Outside of TransMilenio, Bogota has a regular public bus system as well.

These buses run all over the city and sometimes go places TransMilenio might not reach. All the buses have a route sign in the front telling you where they go. If you are going to a well-known place—a shopping centre, museum, main street, etc.… you shouldn’t have a problem catching a public bus to get there as you’re likely to see one pass by with those types of destinations listed on their route sign. However, if you only know the address of the place you are trying to get to, taking a public bus might be difficult, especially if you don’t speak Spanish. There is no map to show you the different routes of these buses, so if you’ve only got an address for your destination, you will have to ask bus drivers about the routes they follow or take the bus with

someone familiar with the bus routes.

However, if you are looking to go to Usaquen, these buses are your best option. Head to the Septima/Carrera 7 and look for buses with Usaquen listed on the route signs.

In addition to buses, Bogota is also full of taxis. Taxis can be an excellent way to get around the city, especially if you are going to travel a longer distance, head to a residential address located off the main transport routes, or head to the airport with lots of luggage. However, make sure you only use radio taxis — that is, phone a taxi company that will give you a code as well as the license plate of the taxi that will pick you up. When the taxi picks you up, the driver should be able to tell you the code that was given to you by the operator.

This is to ensure the taxi you are taking is secure. Wherever you stay in Bogota, whether a hotel or a hostel, someone should be able to recommend a reliable taxi company should you decide on this method of

transportation. Like in most places, taxis in Bogota run on metres which will tell you how much you should pay. Make sure the driver has the metre on when you get in the taxi to receive a fair, metered price.

If you are looking to escape to some of the towns around Bogota, your best bet is to head to the bus station (Terminal de Transporte). Here, you can book a bus to practically anywhere in the country, including towns close to Bogota like Zipaquira, Chia, Cajica, and Facatativa, among others. Most buses to these towns have various services throughout the day. However, it’s best to leave earlier in the day as many buses coming back to Bogota may not have services later at night. Regardless, check the bus schedules, both going from and coming back to Bogota at the Terminal de Transporte when buying your tickets.

For all your transportation in Bogota, make sure you have cash on hand, especially lower bills and coins. It will be hard to get change for a 50.000peso bill, and sometimes even for a 20.000 depending on the bus or taxi you may catch.

And, don’t forget, you can always walk the city, too! Bogota has just created a large pedestrian zone in the historic city centre that is full of neat places tucked away in nooks and crannies you’ll only find on foot. To best plan your walking, be sure to pick up a free map of Bogota at any of the Bogota Humana stands in the airport or around the city—the same place you’ll find the free TransMilenio map.

For a long time, public transport has experienced a struggle against rising costs and increasing car ownership.

So far, public transport appears to be on the losing side in terms of market shares. The aim of this paper is to investigate if a different policy could result in higher public transport usage and improved social welfare. In order to achieve this, a model, explaining public transport usage, public transport supply and costs, is estimated. The model is then used in order to simulate the outcome of an alternative policy of social welfare maximization. It is found that the current policy of the Swedish transport is not efficient in terms of maximizing welfare. In 2011, public transport fares should have been lower in 20 of 21 counties and the supply of vehicle kilometres should have been higher in 17 of 21 counties. Implementing a welfare maximizing policy would have

increased the number of trips per capita by 17.2% in 2011 and by an average of 6.7% for the period 1986– 2011.

Now, the other face of public transport about the Integrated Public Transport System (SITP) as a point of collapse. The delay in its implementation, the financial bankruptcy of its operators, an old fleet, and frequency and route problems are affecting the quality of the service, causing users to opt for other modes of transport that saturate Bogotá’s roads more. “Suffice it to mention that only 32% of citizens are satisfied with the SITP, while 83% with the motorcycle, public transport such as taxi, uber, and some other cars that you can use to make your trips transport collapse and specifically in price and plate. hours.” (August, 2016)

Since its creation, the SITP sought to respond to the need to create an articulated public system, with unified collection, that would cover those areas that TransMilenio did not cover. And for

this, he linked private operators, a handful of families that for years have been in the public transport business in the city, who today have declared themselves illiquid, burdened by economic losses.

Some major cities in Colombia had decided to gradually implement public transportation in order to economize the process of reaching some places. The country's cities involved in this process are Cali, since 2003, and Bogotá, since 2008. This work reviews the experience of these two cities to help understand the impacts and problems behind the gradual implementation of integrated transportation systems public. The two cities present important advances considering, despite the complexity of the process and the lengthy execution, still to be completed. The two case studies indicate that a very gradual approach can result in difficulties, as a result of discontinuities in political leadership and weak institutions.

Passenger demand was not as expected.

The continuous mechanical failures of its buses have affected mobility and cracked the image of this mode of transport. To this is added that more than 4,000 buses of the provisional SITP continue to circulate, without electronic collection or specific stops.

The wait is over. The system must be reorganized with shock measures. Adjust

contracts with private operators to respond to mobility needs in Bogotรก; rethink routes, stops and frequencies, with new buses, and think about other sources of financing for the system that will take it out of the deficit (charges for congestion and on-street parking are proposed), the alternatives.

We must also consider the training of drivers so that they respect traffic regulations and treat users well.

Bogotรก needs an attractive, interconnected and warm public transport for its citizens.