Resource information
Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, is
located near the geographic center of Colombia, 2,640 meters
(8,661 ft) sea level. It is the largest and most populous
city in the nation, with an estimated 8.2 million
inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2007 and a
population density of 3,912 inhabitants per square
kilometer. Its economy generates 25 percent of
Colombia's total gross domestic product (GDP). The
city's roads were highly congested with the significant
growth in private car ownership and use. While private cars
occupied 64 percent of the road space, they only represented
19 percent of the population, and the daily average commute
time was 1 hour and 10 minutes each way. Other issues
included high incidences of accidents and extremely high air
pollution rates during peak travel hours. In 1999, after the
new National Government rejected potential plans for a
subway system, the Mayor of Bogota presented his plan for a
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, built upon the successful
experience of Curitiba in Brazil. The transition to an
effective BRT system would help realize the Mayor's
four main goals by: (i) improving public transport system
with respect to efficiency, safety, speed, convenience and
comfort ensuring high rider-ship; (ii) restricting private
automobile use; (iii) expanding and improving bicycle paths;
and (iv) enhancing public space. The system improves upon
Brazil's Curitiba system by operating without subsidies
from public authorities. Fares were established at US$0.40
in 2000 and have been raised to US$0.61 in order to ensure
that all costs of operations provided by private operators
are covered. This was achieved through the successful
implementation of a concession-based contract that aimed at
regulating service operations and eliminating rents to avoid
fare-hikes. The private operator can earn profits when
demand for rider-ship increases and incurs cost in the case
that the demand for rider-ship declines. The BRT provided
the incentives for private operators to compete for specific
route in terms of per-kilometer basis as opposed to a
per-passenger basis.
