Public transport in Latin America faces significant challenges that require creative and sustainable solutions. Whether it is the lack of integration of different modes of public transport into a single system, the difficulty of adapting public transport to the social and economic needs of the population, or the informality of the transport sector, cities across Latin America are tackling these challenges to create net-zero mobility networks. During the Transport and Climate Change Week, experts from Yucatán (Mexico), Piura, Trujillo and Arequipa (Peru), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Cuenca (Ecuador) and Bogota (Colombia) shared their experiences and challenges in the search for efficient, accessible and sustainable transport systems.
Santiago de Chile’s public transport system is an example of how gradual changes allow for significant advances. According to Paola Tapia, Director of Metropolitan Public Transport of Santiago de Chile, state intervention and progressive integration have been key to achieve the transformation from unregulated buses in the 1980s to the modern Transantiago system.
The city’s notable achievements in more than 20 years include the transition from cash payment to integrated cards and the boosting of electromobility as a state policy. Moreover, advanced fleet management systems have been implemented, while the number of operating service providers was reduced from 300 to 9 associations. In the future, the city will focus its efforts on electromobility, gender perspectives in transport systems, sustainable financing, and technological innovation.
In many Latin American cities, including Yucatán, transport revolves around the automobile as a symbol of status and power, which hinders the development of public transportation. In Yucatán, 60% of the population is concentrated in the metropolitan area of Mérida, where the city seeks to modernise public transport through its “Va y Ven” system. Three key aspects have been identified to achieve this transformation. First, the creation of a sound regulatory framework is necessary to ensure legal certainty. Second, sustainable financing mechanisms are to be established to ensure financial viability. Third, processes are to be optimised and service quality improved to increase operational efficiency.
The progress towards a sustainable public transport system in Yucatán is steadily moving forward. The city now has renewed 90% of its fleet with electric, hybrid and Euro VI buses, and its operators receive ongoing training on new vehicles and operational models. The transformation to and use of the evolving accessible, modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly system is promoted actively by the state.
Bogotá’s mass transit system, TransMilenio, mobilizes close to 4 million people per day, mainly from the lower strata of the population. However, it faces challenges such as public perception, informality in sales, and the need to adapt to a constantly changing urban environment. On its transformation journey, it became clear for the city that innovation and technology are key to data-driven decision making. Moreover, integration and modernisation must be constant to meet the social and economic needs of the city, while legal backing is essential to ensure the continuity of the system beyond political decisions.
Cities such as Piura, Arequipa and Trujillo face challenges with different levels of formality in their transport systems. These challenges include informal services that do not meet minimum standards in terms of service quality, working conditions, and vehicle safety conditions.
The Cities in Motion (CIMO) project, implemented by GIZ, seeks to analyse and propose solutions to advance the formalisation of transport and improve the quality of service, without excluding the sectors that depend on this type of mobility. It is understood that this is not only a transport problem, but also a social and employment problem that transcends and must involve other sectors of the economy to ensure its implementation.
Cuenca has made progress with its tram as clean and efficient transportation. Nonetheless, the lack of integration with buses, especially in the fare collection system, remains a challenge. Cuenca’s mobility plan, updated in 2015, establishes long-term goals, but a revision is required to adapt to post-pandemic changes in mobility dynamics. In this sense, the city seeks to update and align the mobility plan, along with the land use plan.
The discussions at Transport Week 2024 made clear that the development of public transport in Latin America requires public financing to ensure sustainable investments and integrated transport systems that connect different modes of transport. Moreover, it became clear that equitable and inclusive access for the entire population is crucial for the successful shift towards public transport. The event participants further agreed that in order to shape the local and regional transport systems for a net-zero future, a shift towards renewable energies and electromobility is necessary as well as innovative approaches for system management and operation.
Latin America faces complex challenges in the development of efficient and sustainable public transport. However, experiences such as those of Yucatán, Arequipa, Piura, Trujillo, Santiago de Chile, Cuenca, and Bogotá demonstrate that, with planning, state collaboration and a focus on innovation, it is possible to move towards systems that respond to the needs of cities and their inhabitants.
The Mobilize Net-Zero project team is organising the Transport and Climate Change Week, alternating between a virtual and face-to-face format. The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and is funded through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
Hybrid buses of the Va y Ven public transport system in Yucatán, Mexico | ©Yucatán Transportation Agency
Juan Manuel Prado Villafrade
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