in Latin America are often copy of the so-called developed urban patterns counterproductive. Such is the case of gated communities that encourage social segregation in a very segregated world and socially and economically. So is the case of the sprawling city and suburbs of the United States that hamper the sustainability of cities, as well as dependency and increased car use as means of transport, derived from previous development pattern.
However, in Latin America do not always copied indiscriminately urban development patterns elsewhere, including emerging innovations that spread throughout the world due to its success. Such is the case Buses Rapid Transit (BRT for its acronym in English) which have proven to be a quick and cheap transport for different types of cities, with positive social and economic effects.
This innovation arises from the need to solve the problem of public transport in cities. The typical situation of transportation in Latin America are units of buses in poor condition, with no fixed stops, with companies such man-truck (each truck company) and highly disorganized. Transportation competing for the surface layer with increased flows of private cars, generating enormous traffic problems.
The success of BRT in Latin America has been to sort this mess and take a substantial leap in creating a system of quality public transport, which helps reduce traffic congestion (eliminates sources traffic waves), to reduce pollution and to reorganize the urban space (private and public) for planning. The BRT, as such, is only confined to bus circulating lanes, stopping preset and prepaid systems. A simple solution, but no less effective for networking high quality public transport.
The idea of \u200b\u200bBRT in Latin America not only give an exclusive to public transportation that does not compete for space with cars. Also eliminate the perverse incentives generated by the corporate structure or man-truck routes separate business, which stand in public transport networks and quality ordered.
For example, in Mexico City, known as minibus is usually composed of men who get their bus fare revenue that can collect, or are handled by their income drivers also depend on it. Due to this reason competition between each bus by the passage is highly aggressive during the journey , risking the lives of passengers, and in some cases making bases in the bus does not start until you are saturated with passage. As a result the service is awful.
By formalizing the minibus at a company and integrate them with government participation in BRT (Metrobus), it eliminates the perverse economic incentives and the driver is paid for mileage and not the passenger carried. This enables the fixed stops establish prepayment schemes, which help to provide a quality public transport to accelerate their climb down and reduce passenger travel times. At the same time, which formalizes the drivers work with social benefits and professionalize the force that only the most skilled drivers in their hands the responsibility of transporting hundreds of citizens with security, which leads to a better quality of life the inhabitants of a city.
also for governments has great advantages as it allows direct transport to collect taxes and property taxes, to revalue the soil around areas with Greater access to new transport network, allowing orderly urban development around public transport ( protractors Oriented Development). Similarly, to implement a BRT is easier, faster and cheaper to build a streetcar, light rail or subway.
BRT, transportation and city in Curitiba and Bogotá .
BRT The idea was originally born in Peru with the expressway in 1973 (although the later is abandoned), but it is in Curitiba, Brazil where it is refined and becomes a success under the vision of his ex - mayor Jaime Lerner. Lerner promoted the idea was to make a meter of surface, ie a network of public transport, fast, reliable and quality service. The following video of Street Films explained synthetically experience of Brazil.
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Then, years later, in Bogota, Colombia's former mayor Enrique Peñalosa promoted the TransMilenio BRT demonstrating the applicability of a city larger and more complex with positive results. The following video NY Times adequately portrays this system.
Based on these successful experiences, the BRT system has spread throughout the world, including developed countries like USA, Canada, Spain, where implementation has been to be faster and formal public transport companies. As well as densely populated cities such as Mexico City or in Guangzho or Xiamen China (the latter contained a high road.)
Now it clarify, when you think that BRT should also be thinking that this was accompanied by a concept of the city, because it is not only accelerate the mobility of a city also transformed. Improving public transport, not only changes the travel time, urban development transforms to revalue certain parts of the city. Jaime Lerner mentioned in following video of TED Talks in Curitiba, the BRT was only part of a broader concept.
final comment.
BRT Development in Latin America is an example of how we can innovate in mobility, transportation and urban development to improve the lives of the inhabitants of a city, quickly and cheaply. This without the need to copy ideas from other parts of the world that result in counterproductive or extremely expensive. Jaime Lerner says it very well from his experience, "the city is not a problem, a solution to the problems of sustainability and quality of life, and to this solution as the BRT can help achieve this.
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