letter from the mayor

[Trek420]

"... one city in the developing world has broken the vicious circle of transport growth, poverty, pollution and inequality and has turned transport policy upside down to benefit the poor and reward the pedestrian.

In Bogotá, Columbia, Enrique Penalosa, the mayor from 1998-2001, held a referendum and reallocated transport budgets to improve the quality of life for the poorest. The results were staggering. The city embarked on an intensive programme of building cycling and pedestrian-only routes, including a car-free route, 17km long, connecting some of the poorest parts of the city to facilities they need to access, including jobs. Parks were built on derelict land, canals cleaned up and car-free days implemented. In October 2000, the citizens of Bogotá voted in favour of excluding cars from the city in the morning and afternoon peaks from 2005.

Penalosa introduced a car number-plate system that required 40% of the cars to be off the roads during peak hours on two days a week, and this produced a reduction in pollution. More than 80 miles of main road are now closed for seven hours every Sunday and, each week, up to 2 million people come out to enjoy the clean air, the freedom and the safe environment. On one weekend in 2002, a car-free day was set up and 7 million people went to work without a car. In a subsequent poll, 82% supported the concept.

Bogotá's approach is based on creating an equal and vibrant city where no one need fear the oppression that pervades so many other countries' transport systems. Penalosa wanted a reliable and free-moving bus system that was affordable and used road space at ground level. An underground or metro, he reasoned, was simply too expensive for a poor country and, in any case, was supported only by rich people because it keeps intact as much road space as possible. Now the buses carry more than half a million people every day, are reliable and affordable, and give the poorest in Bogotá as much accessibility to jobs and facilities as the rich have. The bus system also covers its cost and makes a profit while every metro in the world swallows up huge subsidies, which are further losses from health, education and sanitation programmes.

Traditional transport policies do not work for the poor - whether in Columbia or Britain. Western countries can learn from experiences such as this and we should stop sending our transport consultants to developing countries. We need the radical approach pioneered in Columbia, with its emphasis on equality, democracy, openness and citizen participation - especially of women, older people, children and those who walk, cycle and travel on buses."

this is from http://www.bristolcyclingcampaign.or...mer/bogota.htm