Reemergence of crisis in Bogotá

[hackinosa 29]

I read this article yesterday on the NYT website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/americas/06bogota.html

I find it really quite sad as Bogotá for the longest time is almost universally touted as one of the Latin American "success stories." Especially the bit about the deterioration of the TransMilenio. I'm sure more than a few of you have heard of it. It was designed as one of the first (if not the first) large-scale BRT systems in the world, and has served as a model for many others. I've wanted to travel to Colombia for a while, but the article makes me rethink my plans as I would be very fearful of armed robberies inside my hotel/hostel. Any thoughts or opinions?

[Mikeaut1 261]

I believe this may be more appropriate in the Current Events forum.

[hackinosa 29]

With all due respect I disagree. The article has everything to do with the failing urban planning model being employed in Bogotá, and is evidence that without proper maintenance, even the best urban models can quickly start to fail. The transmilenio was inaugurated not 5 years ago, and it's already being touted as a failed system.

[CaptCity 4,893]

The article seems to deal with issues and problems related to failures in the planning, not the planning itself. And since there are already threads dealing with "good" and "bad" urban planning, this is moved to the Current Events thread.

[hamsterTK 93]

So why was the Transmillenio a bad idea? Sounds more like poor administration when the problem is corrupt officials, stalled construction projects that were scheduled inappropriately,etc. Still, I find it telling that both of the people interviewed were private vehicle users rather than transit users. One of the complaints about BRT is that it uses road space unlike an underground metro. But if you opened one or two lanes to traffic that would only temporary fix things as induced demand created by easier driving conditions would only attract more cars until it got congested again.

Personally, I think BRT has many merits and I am for building such systems in US cities as a more affordable alternative to light rail, so that we can expand transit much quicker.

  Edited May 9, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[jonnycolombiano 0]

Well Hackinosa, my belief is that any country worth traveling to should come with its dangers. As a fellow Colombian myself, I have had the chance to visit the country many times, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in seeing the very unique way a country can incorporate rural and urban development within just a few sq kilometers. As for the issue with El TransMilenio, I have a theory on that. The biggest problem in Bogotá right now is its infrastructure. The highways crumble, the bridges fall into disrepair, and the entire road system in the city has a myriad of cracks and potholes. But this is not due to ignorance, or failure to produce adequate funds. In fact, Bogotá has one of the most expensive transportation maintenance budgets in the world. The answer to the dilemma? Too many vehicles. Thousands of cars and motorcycles traverse these roads and streets every single day, and because of the constant restoration on asphalt, there are hundreds of bottlenecks throughout the city at any given time. This creates an overload of traffic along corridors meant only for a fraction of what is in use. That means that the top priorities in the city are the highways and avenues that need roadwork, not to mention the dozens of homes and apartment buildings that need maintenance due to heavy cracking from nearby roads. A metro system of high caliber is sorely needed in Colombia, more specifically in its larger cities. But the truth of the matter is that the transportation system in the country is not the top priority anyway of the government, and so it falls easily into a list of items the country needs, but which it never gets the chance to actually do something about.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Actually, it sounds like the sub-structure of the roads needs work. The civil engineers need to research how the Romans did it. The Via Appia is still in use.