- Home
- Report n°6: Urban Public Transport
Report n°6: Urban Public Transport
-
Table of contents
- Exclusive right-of-way for bus: from Bogotá to European urban environments
Exclusive rights-of way for buses: from Bogotá to European urban environments
Public transport professionals and policy makers are also given to trend-following, so that exemplary models are reproduced or serve as guides for innovation. This was the case for the rapid bus network in Bogotá, Colombia, which has taken over the star role which had previously been enjoyed for quite some time by Curitiba in Brazil. Bogotá is a conurbation of some 7 million inhabitants. Demographic and spatial growth was very intensive since the city only numbered 700,000 inhabitants in the early fifties. Growth continues at the present time because of strong natural tendencies and the rural exodus since it is both the capital city and the dominant economic centre of the country. The conurbation measures some 10 km from east to west and a little over 20 km from north to south. Broad avenues, real urban motorways to the city centre, cut across a regular grid of roads extending indefinitely, with skyscrapers and parks, built on the American model, next to which are the old city on the colonial model and immense working class districts built up with a medium density of houses and small apartment buildings. The Bogotá morphology is unknown in Europe. The standard of living of its population is also much lower than in European cities. Only about 20% of households own a car. There is also a great deal of social segregation, since the working classes live in the south of the city and the wealthier population is in the north.