Trimess

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT WHERE TRIMET IS HEADED

The fact is, despite this successful record, social dissatisfaction with TransMilenio is nothing new. Public approval of the system began to drop in 2004, with people complaining about crowding and fares. In March of that year passengers protested poor service that resulted largely from ongoing repairs to three of the busways [PDF, p. 18]. In April 2008 passengers again went on strike over the system's service, this time citing overcrowded buses, low frequencies, and a lack of alternatives [PDF, p. 25-26]. Traffic models from this time suggested that without steps to increase the city's public transportation coverage, congestion would reach a standstill by - you guessed it - 2012 [PDF, p. 17]. 
The problem is a complicated one, writes Hutchinson, but it boils down to several core sources. The first is the city's decades-long, unrequited obsession with building a metro system that would cost much more than bus-rapid transit and cover far less of the city. Another is a lack of government subsidies that hampers the system's ability to expand and address its problems.

Why Are People Rioting Over Bogota's Public Transit System? - Commute - The Atlantic Cities

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