Parking Policy

The bus rapid transit of Bogotá has been well known for its sustainable transportation system. However, the parking revolution has gotten little attention. Along with launching the Transmilenio Project, the parking reformation was  started to provide more public spaces for the people. Specifically, the main goal was to recover public spaces which were occupied by automobiles instead of people. It was also to take back public spaces which were taken up by vendors, street hawkers, and other private users to public space users including pedestrians. Peñalosa, a former mayor during 1998-2000 when various innovative people-centric transportation policies were implemented, refuted the idea that users of parking facilities, such as car drivers and shopping mall owners, need to supply their parking places  for public use, and argued that it is not necessary to accommodate their private needs through public assets. He commented once  "Does the city give me a public closet to put my shoes inside? No, then they shouldn't give me a parking space to park my car." Although most of the citizens favored the new parking policy where on-street parking places were transformed into wide sidewalks, it was really hard to implement because of opposition from neighboring communities and retailers. The mayor was almost impeached due to this policy. On-street parking reforms turned out to be successful. On-street parking places had been replaced by off-street parking lots. Tax subsidies to private retailers or companies who built off-street parking facilities aided in the success.

(Resources)

1. Arturo Ardila and Gerhard Menckhoff,2002. "Transportation policies in Bogota, Colombia: building a transportation system for the people” ,Transportation Research Record 1817, 2002.

2. Carlosfelipe Pardo , "Parking revolution in Bogota: The Golden Era, 1998-2000", October, 2010. Web.

http://www.reinventingparking.org/2010/10/parking-revolution-in-bogota-golden-era.html

Congestion Pricing in Bogotá

                There has been some movement in the direction toward congestion pricing in Bogotá (and in all of Latin America) but the implementation of it has been difficult and is met with a great deal of opposition.

The Ciclovia and Cicloruta Programs in Bogotá

There have been major investments in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in Bogotá, mostly started during Mayor Peñalosa’s term in office. Two of the programs specifically designed for bicycles are the Ciclovia and the Cicloruta.

The impact of Transmilenio on Land Uses in Bogota

Bogotá is known for being one of the most densely populated major cities in the world. Due to governmental initiative along with physical and landscape barriers, the city has managed to avoid the urban sprawl that plagues many major cities. In 2010, there were 7.3 million inhabitants and the population density was 20,500 inhabitants per square kilometer (Bocarejo et al, 2012). The introduction of the Transmilenio BRT system helped maintain (and even further promote) this level of densification.

Bogotá has distinct characteristics in terms of the spatial distribution of population and activities. The southern and western border UPZs are characterized as low-income households, the lowest employment densities and the highest population densities. In contrast, northern and central locations are identified as high-rise developments, lower population densities, and a high concentration of formal employment.

The BRT system provides trunk corridors and feeder line services to cover the entire city. The BRT system impacts both density and land uses. The density of zones located at or near the BRT system increased significantly compared to zones far from it. Some shopping centers were built around the BRT, but the property values were not significantly increased because of it. In general, the economic impact on commercial, office, and residential land use by the BRT system was trivial although there were significant increases in residential, commercial, and office land use. It is a similar case to research shown on relations between transit corridors and land use in a context where regular bus transit systems have a weak ability to promote urban development (Cervero & Kang, 2009).

Some of the effects of Transmilenio on land use and developments have had both positive and negative outcomes. For example, while spurring development along major BRT corridors is a positive effect and encourages densification, some of the commercial businesses that have popped up since Transmilenio’s implementation were a result of private interests maximizing on the opportunities that arose from its implementation instead of as a result of public/private partnerships that were geared towards improving conditions for all interests in the area. Even the creation of Metrovivienda, which is a program aimed to obtain land for low-income housing with proper access to transit, was not a strong enough tie between the transportation and land use developments, so Bogotá has received some criticism for lacking in this area (Bocarejo et al, 2012).

The population density of Bogotá has increased instead of succumbing to urban sprawl. The BRT system help maintain a compact city development by providing accessibility along trunk corridors and feeder routes. The BRT system improved general mobility and accessibility, but low-income people often still have limited access to opportunities. In “Value of Accessibility to Bogotá’s Bus Rapid Transit System,” there was shown to be a correlation between asking rent price of multi-family housing and their distance from BRT stations. The monthly rental amount decreased by 1.3% for every additional minute from a BRT station (Rodriguez & Targa, 2004). This can be seen as both a positive and a negative aspect. On the one hand, the BRT is associated with better quality areas/housing; however, this only has to do with the stations and not the entire corridor. Also, increases in higher asking rent prices can lead to gentrification, which creates even more barriers for low-income residents.

(References)

1. RODRÍGUEZ*, DANIEL, and FELIPE TARGA. "Value of Accessibility to Bogotá's Bus Rapid Transit  System." Transport Reviews. 24.5 (2004): 587-610. Print.

2. Bocarejo, J.P, I Portilla, and M.A Perez. "Impact of Transmilenio on Density, Land Use, and Land Value in Bogota." Research in Transportation Economics. 40.1 (2013): 78-86. Print.

3. Cervero, Robert, and Chang D. Kang. "Bus Rapid Transit Impacts on Land Uses and Land Values in Seoul, Korea." Transport Policy. 18.1 (2011): 102-116. Print.

Equity in Bogotá, Colombia

The City of Bogotá has dealt with many issues of equity and fairness within their transportation systems and even with the revolutionary programs that swept through the city during ex-Mayor Peñalosa’s time in office, the city is still not rid of its equity woes. However, it’s important to compare and contrast the situations before and after the programs were in place.

Transport and Health in Bogotá

The urban environment influences public health. Bogotá is a good example of how the changes in urban environment positively impact physical activities of inhabitants in the city. Here are policies and environmental changes which promote physical activities in Bogotá. First, there is the Ciclovia program. Ciclovia is a program where cars are prohibited using some blocks of streets from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, and those streets are only allowed for recreational activities including walking and bicycling. Second is the Cicloruta transportation system. The Ciclorutas project installed a 300km length of bicycle path. Also, bicycle paths connect to TransMilenio stations in order to facilitate access to bus stations. It turned out to reduce dependency of automobiles by substituting it with other alternative modes including bicycling, walking and public transit. Third, there is the Transmilenio System. It is designed to reduce the use of automobile which causes traffic congestion and emissions. It provided exclusive right-of-way to buses in the road network in order to increase the mobility of buses. The Transmilenio system also triggers an increase in physical activities in a sense that passengers walk more to access the bus station. Fourth, there is the city park. Bogotá increased green areas, and designed several activities in parks. There were other strategies, as well. The following educational programs increased physical activities of inhabitants in Bogotá: recovery of public space, car-free day, and limited use of automobiles (Pico y Placa). Interestingly, these programs are not designed for public health; rather, it was intended for reducing automobile use. As a result, these programs concomitantly made Bogotá a good environment for active and healthy lifestyles.

(Resources) 

Parra, D., Gomez, L., Pratt, M., Sarmiento, O., Mosquera, J., Triche, E.: Policy and Built Environment Changes in   Bogotá and their Importance in Health Promotion. Indoor and Built Environ. 16, 344-348 (2007)

Physical activity, health and transport in Bogotá: the cost of the bus rapid transit system, http://www.activelivingresearch.org/node/12874

Air quality Bogotá

                                                   (source of a photo: New York times website) 

Bogotá, Colombia was a city with a severe pollution and air quality problem. Many measuring devices were put up around the city to measure particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels and all three frequently exceeded the standards set in place by the Departamento Técnico Administrativo del Medio Ambiente). The most concerning air pollutant in Bogotá is particulate matter including PM10 and PM2.5. Bogotá has given much efforts to reach the international standard of PM10. Estimated annual PM2.5 is higher than US-EPA annual standard.

Not only were these levels severe for any major city, Bogotá is also at an exceptionally high altitude, which can affect the accuracy of particulate matter measurements and comparisons, making it difficult to construct country, region, and worldwide standards. There was a recent publication called “Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (PM) at high altitude cities,” which calculated correction factors for high altitude cities in Latin America for measuring particulate matter.

According to “Challenges in Bogota Air Quality: Policies and Technology,” there have been some solid findings in regards to the effects of Bogotá’s poor air quality. High emission rates and steady meteorological condition due to the location at high elevation significantly affect on the health of children and elderly people. By June 2006, air pollution had been attributed to 80 children’s (younger than 5) deaths in Bogotá and it was determined that there was an 8% increase in the number of hospital visits for respiratory illness in children less than 14 years old when the PM10 concentration increased by 10 ug/m³ in the city.

The emission inventory developed for the city's air quality model in 2002 showed that industrial sources produced 64% of the total particular matter emissions, and moving sources emitted the remaining 36%. Point sources can produce emission without emission control devices, and most of them do not have any programs for reducing and preventing polluted emissions. Buses of TransMilenio use diesel fuel because of economical productivity and high altitude although it uses more efficient engines compared to old buses which means the new buses produce less pollutants. The concentration of PM10 dropped 54% when the strike of a public transportation was happened. Situations got worse with the use of diesel as a dominant fuel of high duty vehicles. It is researched that diesel vehicles produce more than 50% of total PM10.

Here is the hope of cleaner air in Bogotá. Dust, soot, and smoke from diesel vehicles had been reduced by 28% from 2008 to 2011 in order to meet the international standard. Public started being concerning on poor air quality and the health impact of a polluted air. Academia and news media are urging a national government to improve diesel quality. The Secretary of the Environment established measures such as inspection and maintenance programs for vehicles, substitute fuel use, on-road identification of vehicles producing much emissions, educational programs for drivers, and restricted use of vehicles during peak hours.

(Sources)

*Paper

1. Bravo, Alvarez H, Echeverria R. Sosa, Alvarez P. Sanchez, and S Krupa. "Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (pm) at High Altitude Cities." Environmental Pollution. 173 (2013): 255-256. Print.

2. Zarate, E, Belalcazar L. Carlos, A Clappier, V Manzi, and den B. H. Van. "Air Quality Modelling Over Bogota, Colombia: Combined Techniques to Estimate and Evaluate Emission Inventories." Atmospheric Environment. 41.29 (2007): 6302-6318. Print.

*Websites
1. David Beltran, Luis Carlos Belalcazar, Nestor Rojas; http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/conference/ei20/session9/dbeltran.pdf

2. Pachon, J.E., Behrentz E., Rojas,N.Y.; http://www.ing.unal.edu.co/grupos/calidad_aire/doc/eventos/0058airqualityinbogota.pdf

3. Botota Greenest City in Latin America;
http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/bogota/21321-bogota-greenest-city-in-latin-america.html

4. Buses May Aid Climate Battle in Poor Cities
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/world/americas/10degrees.html?_r=1&

Safety and Security Trade-Offs in Bogotá, Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia was a city in dire need of a re-vamp in order to curb the traffic fatalities and injuries that happened regularly in the city. According to “Road traffic injuries in Colombia,”[1] 68% of the traffic victims in urban areas of Colombia were pedestrians. As of the writing of the article, traffic crashes were the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality. It was outranked only by homicides.