The government of Bogota said on Tuesday that car traffic in Colombia’s capital has doubled over the past ten years.
While presenting the policy results of 2013, Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro said that the number of cars has gone up from 509,000 in 2002 to 1,290,000 in 2012.
During the same period, the number of motorcycles duplicated by 20, said Petro.
According to the government figures, the time an average Bogota commuter spends in traffic every day went from 51 minutes in 2002 t0 72 minutes in 2012.
Average time spent in traffic daily
The governments of Bogota have long tried to curb the consequences of increased car traffic and the consequent traffic jams, increasing efforts to amplify its mass transit bus system and the construction of an underground metro system.
However, mismanagement and a major public works corruption scandal that hit the administration of former Mayor Samuel Moreno have stalled progress in constructing extensions of the Transmilenio bus network and the preparations of the metro.
In his presentation, Petro said that between 2002 and 2012 the number of buses in the city did quadruple, going from 3,600 to 13,600.
Bogota traffic since 2002
Sources
- Informe estratégico Plan de Desarrollo Bogotá Humana año 2013 (Bogota City Government)