Abstract
In recent years, the Colombian capital Bogotá has become an internationally renowned showcase of how an innovative concept of public mass transport, embedded into a long-term urban development strategy, is able to completely transform a large metropolis. Basically, Bogotá’s TransMilenio system relies on the Bus Rapid Transit concept developed for Curitiba (Brazil) in the 1970s but adapted to the needs of a megacity. The overwhelming success of TransMilenio has led to a “renaissance” of Bus Rapid Transit, revolutionising the way many metropolises, especially in developing countries and transformation countries, organise their public transportation systems. At present, the system is being implemented in dozens of cities around the world, primarily in Latin America, but increasingly also on other continents. This chapter presents the TransMilenio system, its institutional framework, implementation and accompanying measures and its strong points and drawbacks, and discusses the system’s applicability to other megacities.
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http://www3.giz.de/E+Z/content/archiv-ger/01-2004/inw_art4.html
Interview with Angélica Castro, Head of Planning Department, TransMilenio S.A. (29 December 2001)
Interview with Germán Camargo, Head of Planning Department, Capital District Environment Agency DAMA (16 January 2002)
TransMilenio website: www.TransMilenio.gov.co
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to acknowledge the support provided by TransMilenio S.A. during the investigation.
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Müller, J.M. (2014). Bus Rapid Transit: The Answer to Transport Problems in Megacities? The Example of TransMilenio (Bogotá, Colombia). In: Kraas, F., Aggarwal, S., Coy, M., Mertins, G. (eds) Megacities. International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3417-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3417-5_13
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