About a decade ago, Colombian traffic "experts" were planning to build a second story of roads above congested streets to make way for more vehicles driven by one person.
Officials finally discarded the expensive, unsustainable, and ludicrous idea -- maybe after they found out about the Big Pig, I mean Big Dig, here in Boston.
Instead of spending billions of dollars [sound familiar?] to make way for more and more cars, they attacked the problem from a different angle, and created a network of bus rapid transit lanes connected to bikeways to transport the city's 7 million people.
TransMilenio moves 1.3 million people a day on buses going 17 to 25 mph, compared to 6 mph average for NYC buses. Bogata is close enough to the Equator to avoid rugged winter weather. They have a significant population of people unable to afford to own and operate cars.
Take a look --http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bus-rapid-transit-bogota/. The video shows attended parking lots of bikes next to the TransMilenio stations. Using bus-only lanes, buses pull up to elevated platforms so strollers and wheelchairs roll right on. It's like an above-ground subway, built at a fraction of the cost.
Buses run continuously and dependably throughout the day and night. The system is so good, commuters from all walks of life use it. The main complaint is too many people use it!
Bikes are foundational to the system. TransMileneo encourages bike commuting to the station because it eliminates the need for neighborhood buses to bring people to the TransMilenio, and saves money by requiring fewer local buses to get people to the main stations. What's really impressed me is attended bike storage facilities at the transit stations.
Many commuters prefer public transit over carpooling because carpooling is so, personal. Riding a bus is impersonal. You have your private space, thoughts and music. You don't have to talk. You can take an earlier or later bus without conferring with your carpool partner. Great public transit enables the great American value of "Freedom of Movement," when I want it, where I want it.
Buses are typically disdained as lower class. People prefer rail and subways, which are expensive to build and not as flexible as buses. Bus Rapid Transit provides a cost-effective solution.
America- we're behind the trend. We need to go to Colombia to copy an idea worth importing.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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