Bogotá's Experience in Sustainable City Development

Abstract

Bogotá is an old city in Colombia with a population of about 7 million. In 1998, I promoted this city “not for businesses or automobiles, but for children and for the people,” and restricted car use instead of building highways. I also rejected a Transportation Master Plan that proposed to solve Bogotá’s traffic jams with a metro system and elevated highways because it was unaffordable and unworkable, promising mobility for the few, but not for all. From 1998 to 2000, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system called TransMilenio was made operational, transforming Bogotá’s quality of life and renewing civic spirit among the people. The money that Bogotá would have paid interest in one year for a loan to build the metro was used instead to build 155 miles of bicycle paths that now move 5% of the population, up 10 times from bike ridership in 1998. A key to the success of Bogotá’s BRT is the attention paid to improving public spaces, bikeways, and sidewalks which make the system safe and accessible to all. After five months of operation, TransMilenio reported a 93% reduction in traffic fatalities; a 40% drop in some air pollutants; a 32% decline in travel time; and a passenger acceptance level of 88%. The TransMilenio with its feeder bus system, bikeways, sidewalks, parks, and improved public spaces has been continuously expanded. The improved city infrastructure has attracted citizens from all income levels. Private car owners have shifted to BRT, contributing more than 20% of total bus customers.