Bus rapid transit : impacts on travel behavior in Bogotá

Abstract

In the year 2000, the government of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, undertook a major transformation of its public transport system. A Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system named Transmilenio was implemented modifying the organizational scheme of service delivery, raising the level of service, and ultimately affecting travel behavior. This thesis studies the changes in travel behavior resulting from the introduction of the new mode and some of the impacts whereby induced. In particular it studies the competition between the traditional buses operating in mixed traffic and the BRT. The main result is that traveling conditions have improved substantially which is reflected in the reduction of the burden associated with traveling. This is demonstrated by the lower value of time found for BRT in comparison to the existing mode. This thesis studies the consequences of these changes in terms of the future growth of the system and the fare for public transportation. In addition, it looks at the extent to which the new mode has modified the fundamental drivers of travel behavior in the city.