Cali, Colombia

TABLE A.7 Lessons learned from the Metrocali bus rapid transit project in Cali, Colombia

BEST PRACTICES

• Metrocali modified its operations to mitigate the impact of lower-than-expected demand and to ensure the financial sustainability of operators. [operation risk] [financing risk] • The project began operating without having finalized all of the infrastructure, which affected ridership and expected revenues. [interface risk] • The municipality could have awarded the construction function to a private partner to reduce the risk of delays. [construction risk] • Fare collection systems were only available in a limited number of stations. The operator in charge of fare collection systems refused to increase the number of fare collection points and card recharge stations in the system. [operation risk] • Incumbent service providers that were not included in the project (40 percent of the total) increasingly protested and disrupted project operations, affecting ridership and financial sustainability. [planning risk] [political and social risk] [operation risk] • The project exceeded the city’s local capacity to implement the bus rapid transit system.

Multilateral development banks did not provide technical assistance for procurement and management of the contract. The government could have requested further technical assistance from them. [planning risk] [operation risk] • The municipal government missed the opportunity to develop this project as part of a greater transportation-oriented development plan. Integrating the project with an urban plan would have increased the system’s sustainability and value. [planning risk] • Demand estimates could have been more robust, and the project should have included mechanisms to mitigate demand risk, given that the project was supposed to be fully sustained with fare revenues. [operation risk] [financing risk] • The municipal government should have deepened the assessment of low-income people’s mobility needs at the planning and feasibility stages. The project failed to have an impact on this segment of the population. [planning risk] • The municipal government could have developed mechanisms to facilitate the transition of low-income users from a cash-based system to electronic payments. The government underestimated the impact of the cultural transition on low-income citizens. [operation risk] [political and social risk]

Source: World Bank. AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Metrocali has failed to meet its operational targets and objectives. The municipality experienced construction delays of three years and cost overruns for the government and private sector, which amounted to more than US$700 million in extra costs for the government and US$370 million for the private sector. Ridership in 2015 was 525,000 passengers per day, 45 percent below the forecast demand and 30 percent short of the project’s break-even point. Metrocali failed to increase average bus speeds, increase bus service frequencies, or improve reliability in the bus system, resulting in a fall in the modal split for public transportation from 48 percent to 39 percent between 2005 to 2012, compared with personal vehicles and walking. Table A.7 shows the lessons learned from the project.

SYTRAL (LYON, FRANCE)

SYTRAL, Lyon’s public transportation authority, has provided accessible and reliable transportation to citizens for more than 30 years (MassTransit Magazine 2014; World Bank 2015). This case describes the development of an integrated public transportation system—which includes metro, tram, and bus routes—through a combination of publicly financed infrastructure and rolling stock and management contracts. It demonstrates how a publicly financed transportation system can achieve its objectives and deliver affordable, reliable, efficient services.

Founded in 1985, SyTRAL manages Lyon’s public transportation system—the second-largest in France. It consists of three integrated public transportation networks, including 4 metro lines, 5 tram lines, 2 cable car lines, and more than 180 bus lines. In 2007 a survey of bus system users showed high levels of