IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000089/003586.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Economics Of Transmilenio, A Mass Transit System For Bogotá

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Carlos Echeverry
  • Ana María Ibáñez
  • Luis Carlos Hillón

Abstract

By the end of the 1990s, inefficiency, excess supply and low service quality characterized the mass transit system of Bogotá. The average travel time to work was one hour and ten minutes, obsolete buses provided public transport, traffic generated 70 percent of air pollution and there were frequent traffic accidents. To address all of these issues, the municipal and national governments designed and put in place a new mass transit system named TransMilenio (TM), which came into operation in January 2001. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Bogotá´s mass transit system before and after TM, study the political economy of its adoption process and conduct a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of the first phase of the system. The new transit system is a hybrid model that combines public planning of the network structure, route tendering conditions, regulation and supervision, as well as private operation of the separated functions of revenue collection and transport service. The adoption of this new model needed to resolve delicate political economy issues that characterized private transport systems in many developing countries. The new organization had a sizeable impact on TM users´ by improving traveling conditions significantly. In addition, congestion, pollution and traffic accidents plummeted in TM corridors. However, the type of transition adopted for the remaining transport corridors not covered by TM caused unforeseen negative spillovers, as a consequence of slow scrapping rates and bus and routes relocation. Consequently, although the CBA for the first phase of the corridors covered by TM is positive, once these additional measures are taken into consideration, the net effect is negative due primarily to increases in travel time for passengers using the traditional transport system. In order to minimize the negative spillovers during the full implementation of TM, expected to last until 2015, integration of the traditional and new systems should be carried on, and strict regulation of the traditional public transport system should be crafted.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Carlos Echeverry & Ana María Ibáñez & Luis Carlos Hillón, 2004. "The Economics Of Transmilenio, A Mass Transit System For Bogotá," Documentos CEDE 3586, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:003586
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/7883/dcede2004-28.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lozano Nancy, 2004. "Air Pollution in Bogotá, Colombia: A Concentration-Response Approach," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, August.
    2. Brad J. Bowland & John C. Beghin, 1998. "Robust Estimates of Value of a Statistical Life for Developing Economies: An Application to Pollution and Mortality in Santiago," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 99-wp214, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bel, Germà & Holst, Maximilian, 2018. "Evaluation of the impact of Bus Rapid Transit on air pollution in Mexico City," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 209-220.
    2. David, Quentin & Foucart, Renaud, 2014. "Modal choice and optimal congestion," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 12-20.
    3. Gómez-Lobo, Andrés, 2020. "Transit reforms in intermediate cities of Colombia: An ex-post evaluation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 349-364.
    4. Delmelle, Elizabeth Cahill & Casas, Irene, 2012. "Evaluating the spatial equity of bus rapid transit-based accessibility patterns in a developing country: The case of Cali, Colombia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 36-46.
    5. Carlos Alberto Medina & carlos Eduardo Vélez, 2011. "Aglomeración Económica y Congestión Vial: los Perjuicios por Racionamiento del Tráfico Vehicular," Borradores de Economia 678, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    6. Bueno Rezendede Castro, André & Ortega Sandoval, Abby Daniela & Odamtten, Genevieve, 2022. "Up around the bend? How transport poverty can lead to social exclusion in a low-income community in Lagos, Nigeria," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    7. Combs, Tabitha S. & Rodríguez, Daniel A., 2014. "Joint impacts of Bus Rapid Transit and urban form on vehicle ownership: New evidence from a quasi-longitudinal analysis in Bogotá, Colombia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 272-285.
    8. David Heres & Darby Jack & Deborah Salon, 2014. "Do public transport investments promote urban economic development? Evidence from bus rapid transit in Bogotá, Colombia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 57-74, January.
    9. Carlos Medina & Leonardo Morales & Jairo Nuñez, 2008. "Quality of Life in Urban Neighborhoods in Colombia:The Cases of Bogotá and Medellín," Borradores de Economia 5126, Banco de la Republica.
    10. Tien Dung Khong & Yen Dan Tong & Le Thai Hanh Bui, 2023. "Cost-Benefit Analysis and Model Preference of Public Transportation in Can Tho City, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Llanto, Gilberto M. & Gerochi, Hope, 2017. "Competition for the Market: A Policy Framework for Improving Bus Operation along EDSA," Discussion Papers DP 2017-10, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    12. Carlos Alberto Medina & Carlos Eduardo Vélez, 2011. "Aglomeración económica y congestión vial: los perjuicios por racionamiento del tráfico vehicular," Borradores de Economia 9085, Banco de la Republica.
    13. Heres, David R. & Jack, Darby & Salon, Deborah, 2013. "Do Public Transit Investments Promote Urban Economic Development? Evidence from Bogotá, Colombia," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt8dg273pk, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marcela Parada-Contzen & Andrés Riquelme-Won & Felipe Vasquez-Lavin, 2013. "The value of a statistical life in Chile," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 1073-1087, December.
    2. Eskeland, Gunnar*Chingying Kong, 1998. "Protecting the environment and the poor - a public goods framework applied to Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1961, The World Bank.
    3. -, 2015. "La economía del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe: paradojas y desafíos del desarrollo sostenible," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37310 edited by Cepal.
    4. Sujitra Vassanadumrongdee & Shunji Matsuoka & Hiroaki Shirakawa, 2004. "Meta-analysis of contingent valuation studies on air pollution-related morbidity risks," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 6(1), pages 11-47, March.
    5. Benkhalifa, Abdelaziz, 2010. "The value of mortality risk reductions in the Tunisian building and manufacturing industries," MPRA Paper 63617, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bowland, Bradley J. & Beghin, John C., 2001. "Robust estimates of value of a statistical life for developing economies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 385-396, May.
    7. А. Zubets N. & А. Novikov V. & А. Зубец Н. & А. Новиков В., 2018. "Численная Оценка Стоимости Жизни Человека В России И В Мире // Quantitative Assessment Of The Value Of Human Life In Russia And In The World," Финансы: теория и практика/Finance: Theory and Practice // Finance: Theory and Practice, ФГОБУВО Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации // Financial University under The Government of Russian Federation, vol. 22(4), pages 52-75.
    8. Chemingui, Mohamed A. & Thabet, Chokri, 2013. "Trade liberalization, local air pollution, and public health in Tunisia: Assessing the Ancillary Health Benefits of Pollution Abatement Policy," Conference papers 332347, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    9. Galindo, Luis Miguel & Samaniego, Joseluis & Ferrer, Jimy & Alatorre, José Eduardo & Reyes, Orlando, 2016. "Cambio climático, políticas públicas y demanda de energía y gasolinas en América Latina: un meta-análisis," Documentos de Proyectos 40841, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    10. Perdomo, Jorge & Arzuza, Maria, 2014. "Beneficios económicos de Transmetro sobre la reducción de la accidentalidad vial en el área metropolitana de Barranquilla, Colombia," Revista Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, CIE, issue 82, pages 219-245, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban transport;

    JEL classification:

    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000089:003586. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Universidad De Los Andes-Cede (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceandco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.