Dario Hidalgo

• PhD
• Profesor Notable at Pontifical Xavierian University

A survey of Bus Rapid Transit BRT and Bus of High Level of Service BHLS around the world indicates that there are about 120 cities with bus corridors, with 99 of the cities entering into the list in the last 12 years. The existing bus corridors comprise about 280 corridors, 4300 km, 6700 stations and use 30,000 buses, serving about 28 million passe...

Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, is now operating in many cities of emerging and developed economies around the world. It provides affordable connectivity, and fast and reliable services for a range of requirements. This paper presents barriers to introducing BRT based on the authors' experience in planning, implementing and improving these systems in citie...

Several Latin American cities are replacing their semi-deregulated and dispersed public transport services by integrated public transport systems to overcome quality of service issues and multiple negative externalities. Cities can choose to implement their reform quickly – like Santiago, Chile – or gradually, as has been the case in the Colombian...

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has grown fast in the last 25 years, promising low-cost, rapid implementation, and large positive impacts. Despite advances, many systems in middle- and low-income countries face operational and financial issues, particularly in Latin America. Some practitioners, researchers, and decision makers, and the media are questionin...

Semi-regulated, privately-operated public transport (PT) systems are common in low and middle-income countries of the Global South. Several cities are now planning or implementing formalized schemes intended to improve quality of service, safety, security of PT services and to reduce negative externalities, with limited success. Bogotá, which embar...

Bogotá has an interesting record regarding the introduction of sustainable mobility over time. It also has a good record in reducing fatalities: 66% between 1996 and 2006 and 15 % between 2016 and 2019. Part of the success has been the reduction of speed limits in arterials from 60 km/h to 50 km/h and introducing automated speed camera enforcement....

Background Transportation policies can impact health outcomes while simultaneously promoting social equity and environmental sustainability. We developed an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate the impacts of fare subsidies and congestion taxes on commuter decision-making and travel patterns. We report effects on mode share, travel time and transpor...

Nine in 10 road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite this disproportionate burden, few studies have examined built environment correlates of road traffic injury in these settings, including in Latin America. We examined road traffic collisions in Bogotá, Colombia, occurring between 2015 and 2019, and assessed th...

The assessment of urban transport interventions is complex, multi-faceted, and context-dependent. This study proposes a multi-methodology approach called systems analytics to evaluate the potential impact of the implementation of temporary bike paths during the COVID-19 pandemic on Bogotá’s bicycle complex system. The proposed methodology applies s...

Background: Transportation policies can impact health outcomes while simultaneously promoting social equity and environmental sustainability. We developed an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate the impacts of fare subsidies and congestion taxes on commuter decision-making and travel patterns. We report effects on mode share, travel time and transpo...

El primer plan del decenio ha terminado, no sin antes demostrar la importancia que revierte para el mundo el trabajo sistémico en seguridad vial en cuanto a la protección de la vida. Asimismo, se ha dejado en evidencia que no se trata de un trabajo sencillo y que la tarea no es corta; los procesos de generación de acciones, apropiación y conocimien...

Background We used panoramic images and neural networks to measure street-level built environment features with relevance to pedestrian safety. Methods Street-level features were identified from systematic literature search and local experience in Bogota, Colombia (study location). Google Street View© panoramic images were sampled from 10,810 inte...

Este módulo del proyecto busca comprender cómo TransMiCable y sus transformaciones urbanas asociadas impactan la salud, la movilidad y la calidad de vida de la comunidad en la zona de influencia del cable aéreo en Ciudad Bolívar en Bogotá, Colombia. Esta evaluación de impacto hace parte del proyecto "Desarrollo de un simulador para modelar la ocupa...

In Bogota, the speed limit in five corridors with the highest concentration of traffic crashes victims in the city was reduced from 60 to 50 km/h since November 2018. The average speed reduction in the corridors with speed management was 1.48 km/h during daytime and 3.04 km/h during nighttime. In arterial corridors without speed management, the ave...

The article presents a general overview on COVID-19 transmission in the context of public transport, particularly applicable to decision making in Latin America. Based on recent findings on COVID-19 transmission and the relative importance of each factor (droplets, fomites, and aerosol routes) in such transmission, we seek to update the discussion...

El sector transporte es responsable de 23 % de las emisiones globales de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) por combustión de fósiles, por lo que resulta fundamental reducir emisiones de este sector para lograr las metas globales de mitigación de emisiones de cambio climático. En América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), la reducción de emisiones de GEI se...

El sector transporte es responsable de 23 % de las emisiones globales de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) por combustión de fósiles (Sims et al., 2014), por lo que resulta fundamental reducir emisiones de este sector para lograr las metas globales de mitigación de emisiones de cambio climático. En América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), la reducción de...

Cada cuatro años Bogotá reinventa el discurso de movilidad. Lo cierto es que se arrastran más continuidades que rupturas. La transición de Enrique Peñalosa a Claudia López se percibe más en los anuncios que en los hechos. La alcaldesa, en su sentido más práctico y responsable, continúa varios de los proyectos iniciados en el cuatrienio anterior mie...

El objetivo central del libro blanco que se presenta a continuación es mostrar un camino para contar con una estrategia efectiva para la reducción de la huella de carbono de las ciudades y hacer frente a los impactos y riesgos del cambio climático. Se analizan las políticas, regulaciones y capacidades requeridas para que los proyectos urbanos pueda...

The paper examines the integral role of semi-formal and informal transport services as viable and legitimate public transport options in Latin America. While the region is well-known as the “cradle of bus rapid transit,” the prevalence of semi-formal transport is often overlooked or scrutinized in a negative light. Based on the authors decades of e...

A new methodology for universal accessibility is proposed to identify barriers in public transport accessibility and travel experience. The methodology focuses on the travel experience of people with disabilities and people with temporary restrictions in physical mobility. The methodology not only focuses on aspects of the planning, design, and ope...

The study of the relationship between the built environment and road safety suggests that density and urban design features may be associated with traffic incidents. In this study, quantitative data analysis using generalized ordinal logit models, and linear and log-linear regressions was conducted to estimate the influence of the built environment...

Public transport remains the main mode of transport in Latin American cities, which makes its improvement a priority on the path to sustainable mobility. Traditionally, the sector has been dominated by under-regulated private bus operations, that deliver poor service and efficiency, albeit at no cost to governments. Limited by financial and institu...

The number of deaths and injuries due to traffic crashes continues to rise. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, the number of fatal victims in traffic has increased from 1.25 million in 2013 to 1.35 million in 2016. Globally, crashes are the main cause of death for children, youth and young adults – people between 5 and 29 years...

Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) is an umbrella platform that brings together 55 public and private organizations and companies with a shared ambition to transform the future of mobility. The Global Roadmap of Action Toward Sustainable Mobility is a comprehensive policy framework to assist decision makers in cities and countries as well as pr...

Access to jobs, services, and people is key to a city’s economic vitality and quality of life. Many cities are experiencing a decline in accessibility due to a confluence of rapid urbanization and motorization trends. New analysis of these trends in the global South shows that up to half of urbanites might experience restricted access, leading to e...

This paper synthesizes evidence from Workshop 1 ‘Integrating rail and bus based modes (including BRT) into a user-relevant transport system’ of the 15th International Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport. The paper outlines key findings from 13 research papers presented at the workshop which was structured into five s...

Bogotá is the capital and financial centre of Colombia with a population of 8 million people. Between 1996 and 2006, the city of Bogotá reduced its traffic fatality rate by more than 60%. Since then it has remained constant – an achievement given the climbing fatality rate nationally. The 1996–2006 drop in fatalities most profoundly affected motor...

La Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá anuncia que en este año se inician grandes obras para la movilidad de la ciudad, proyectos por los cuales llevamos esperando muchos años. Buena noticia. Luego de muchas discusiones y falta de alineamiento entre el Gobierno Nacional y local, nos indican que la Primera Línea Metro será licitada en junio, la adecuación de l...

Globally, bus rapid transit (BRT) has proved itself to be a high-capacity public transport mode that can be implemented in short time frames and at relatively low capital cost. Its benefits—reducing greenhouse gas and local air pollutant emissions, improving traffic safety, and reducing passenger travel times—are well documented. BRT can play an i...

The paper offers an analysis of empirical evidence on the equity impacts of operational Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in the Global South. The focus is on vertical equity, i.e. whether BRT systems achieve progressive benefits for poorer segments of the population. Findings from Africa, Asia and Latin America all suggest that BRT does offer signif...

The Republic of Colombia is a middle income, highly urbanised country with very large, but declining, public transport share. During two decades, cities initiated a transformation process for public transport provision from a semi regulated, dispersed ownership model to formalized private services under stronger supervision by local governments. Th...

Integration is one important element to advance higher quality service delivery, but advancing transit integration has proven difficult, especially in developing countries. BRT is one tool to use as a stepping stone to build citywide transit networks. Using the cases of Santiago and Bogotá, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages faced by two c...

The promise of BRT is that it can serve as a catalyst for reshaping urban space and embedding sustainable transport into the fabric of the city. In developing cities with informal bus service sectors, BRT can be used as a method to restructure public transport provision by providing the physical infrastructure for the integrated network design and...

Objectives Metro lines are an important part of multimodal public transport systems, especially in large and medium size cities. They are often subject to extensive discussions and protracted decision making processes due to the relative high cost as compared with other transit alternatives. Very often Metro requires financial and technical support...

Transport systems can play an important role in increasing physical activity (PA). Bogotá has been recognized for its bus rapid transit (BRT) system, TransMilenio (TM). To date, BRTs have been implemented in over 160 cities worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the association between PA and the use of TM among adults in Bogotá. The study...

Bike to school programs are aimed at improving the daily travel experience and safety for young commuters and constitute an opportunity for behavioral shifts towards sustainable mobility. However, only a few cases of bike to school programs have been documented. The lack of information is especially critical in rapidly growing cities of the global...

Introduction The main goal of an urban transport system is to provide accessibility for the inhabitants of an urban region. As this book shows, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects can play an important role in urban mobility, but they cannot stand alone. A combination of different transport modes is needed to serve the demand which varies across diffe...

Abstract Bike to school programs are aimed at improving the daily travel experience and safety for young commuters and constitute an opportunity for behavioral shifts towards sustainable mobility. However, only a few cases of bike to school programs have been documented. The lack of information is especially critical in rapidly growing cities of th...

Traditional public transport planning textbooks and guidelines indicate a hierarchy of transport modes according to capacity and speed (Vuchic, 2007; UN-Habitat, 2013). Buses are usually recommended for low capacity applications; while rail, in the form of Light Rail Transit, Metro and Regional Rail are generally recommended for medium and high cap...

We review the current situation of Transantiago, the fully integrated public transport system covering the Santiago Metropolitan Area in Chile, identifying its current strength, flaws and challenges. The system captured worldwide attention after its premature implementation in February 2007, with problems in the design and before most of the infras...

Bus rapid transit BRT, and its European counterpart buses with high level of service BHLS, have been adopted by more than 160 cities around the world as a low cost, rapid implementation option for improved transit services. This paper summarizes some past advances of BRT and BHLS and presents some trends in vehicle guidance, propulsion technologies...

Several cities in the developing world are transforming decentralized bus transit services into integrated transit systems. These programs aspire to improve service quality and mitigate negative impacts such as pollution and traffic injuries and fatalities. However, implementation processes in Santiago, Chile and elsewhere have proven difficult. On...

Urban mobility is not merely a local concern. National governments in developing countries are increasingly investing in urban transport infrastructure. Although the body of knowledge on the topic is growing, further understanding and improvement are necessary. This paper contributes to the topic by providing an assessment and formulating recommend...

While there is a growing body of literature on transit safety, most studies on this topic tend to focus on a single type of transit system or on a single city. There is a need for a better understanding of safety issues across different transit modes and in different geographies in order to help inform city or transit agencies choosing between diff...

For the first time in human history, the majority of the world population lives in urban areas. Human development and the impacts on the natural environment primarily occur or are originated in cities. The post-2015 development agenda recognizes this and includes an explicit goal in its proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “Make cities an...

Between 2005 and 2012, India's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) invested US$20 billion in urban infrastructure and basic services for the urban poor. The transport program under JnNURM is an important advance, helping cities with policies and funding for moving people, not vehicles. Nevertheless, this program has not suffici...

Transportation provides vital support to the economic and social development of Latin America cities, but current growth patterns and trends are not sustainable. While non-motorized and public transport modes have the largest shares in passenger transport, there is a strong increase in ownership and use of cars and motorcycles. In Latin America in...

The design choices made in the planning of a new bus rapid transit (BRT) or busway corridor (e.g., use of a center-lane or curbside configuration, counterflow lanes, and open or closed stations) affect not only the operational performance of the system but also the risks of crashes, injuries, and fatalities on the facility over its lifetime. With d...

Transit textbooks and engineering manuals indicate that the capacity of Bus Rapid Transit –BRT – systems does not exceed 20,000 passengers per hour per direction. The implementation of the TransMilenio BRT System, in Bogotá, Colombia, showed that the systematic combination of multiple platforms at stations, overtaking lanes, level boarding, prepaym...

The paper presents the main characteristics, costs and impacts of TransMilenio, the bus based mass transit system of Bogotá, using BRT corridors and feeder services. An ex-post cost-benefit analysis is done, including monetary valuation of direct impacts on travel time and travel cost and externalities, such as improved road safety and air quality....

Workshop 2 focused on the role of BRT as part of enhanced public transport service provision. Discussion topics included case studies around the world; improved performance and operations; and better contracts, institutional settings and enhanced policies. BRT was identified as a vital component of modern public transport systems due to its ability...

Sixteen Latin American cities have embraced Bus Rapid Transit as a key component of their transit systems. BRT was already operational in several Latin American cities, before the acronym was coined by transit planners in the US in the late 1990s. This review concentrates on nine cities, and shows the systems' high performance (5,00043,000 passenge...

Curitiba is the only city in Brazil that has directed its growth by integrating urban transportation, land-use development and environmental preservation. Since the 1970s Curitiba's administrators have constantly achieved innovations with the city's bus-based transit system through performance and capacity improvements. Originally, the bus system e...

Curitiba, the world's cradle for bus rapid transit (BRT), is an affluent city in Brazil. Its integrated transit network (RIT) is one of the most successful bus transit systems in the Western Hemisphere. RIT is the result of 35 years of continuous upgrades to bus service, which ultimately led to the creation of the BRT concept and lent structure to...

The Interligado System is a large-scale transit modernization plan for the Municipality of São Paulo, Brazil, which optimizes bus routes and services through the use of advanced technologies for fare integration, bus fleet renovations, new requirements for the companies delivering transit services, and support infrastructure for buses (e.g., priori...

This paper reviews the planning, implementation, and initial operation of bus rapid transit systems (BRTSs) in India. The initial four cities that received funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) are reviewed: Ahmedabad, Indore, Jaipur, and Pune. JnNURM is a Government of India (GOI) program to support state and loc...

This paper summarizes technical, financial, and performance information regarding bus system improvements in 11 cities in Latin America and Asia. The cities selected in this review improved their transport conditions either through citywide bus reorganizations (São Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile) or through improvements in selected corridors and ar...

This case study explores the planning and implementation of the Transantiago system from a learning perspective. Transantiago is the most ambitious transport modernization plan in a large developing city implemented in the last decade. The plan includes three main components, improvement of bus services citywide, expansion of the Metro system, and...

An indicative evaluation of mass transit alternatives demonstrates that it is only convenient to introduce rail technology (Metro) when demand exceeds 40,000 passengers per hour per direction. A cost/benefit analysis indicates that it is necessary to go beyond the construction of bus lanes and the acquisition of new fleet; it is imperative to manag...

Services of TransMilenio system have been programmed with the knowledge of origin destiny matrix in order to minimize trip time for the most of users. However, it is not doing with a systematic proce- dure to establish an optimum service program. A model of the system is proposed to evaluate its performance in different scenarios. Those scenarios a...

There are some specific transport policies that help fighting poverty and improving living standards of people in the developing cities. This paper shows how the City of Bogotá has implemented this type of policies, especially with the TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), and indicates some impacts on the poor. Bogotá’s urban poor, with ave...

About half of the world's population now lives in urban areas because of the opportunity for a better quality of life. Many of these urban centers are expanding rapidly, leading to the growth of megacities, which are often defined as metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 10 million inhabitants. These concentrations of people and activity ar...

Bogotá is developing an ambitious mobility strategy whose main objective is to initiate a structural change in transportation to improve livability and make the city more efficient and competitive. The strategy seeks transit priority, exploration of alternative transport modes and reduction of private automobile use. This paper summarizes some aspe...

This paper is intended to show the general characteristics of Bogotá and its transportation system before the implementation of the Mobility Strategy set forth by the local administration starting in 1998. The paper is based on a city Datasheet prepared by the Office of the Mayor in 2000 and studies by Steer Davies Gleave for the Operational Design...

TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit system in Bogotá, Columbia resulting from a successful public-private partnership. The system comprises specialized infrastructure including exclusive lanes for high capacity articulated buses, efficient private operation, advanced fare collection system, and a new public authority for planning, developing and co...

The article reviews an ambitious mobility strategy, begun in 1998 by the local administration of Bogota, with support of the national government and private sector. The goal was to overcome the city's outstanding transportation problem that were the result of a very rapid population growth along with a fast increase in ownership and use of automobi...

The well-defined concept of value of perfect information (VOPI) was used to assess the value of improving flow prediction and the relative value of improving components of the prediction system. The concept is introduced with a simplified example of choosing whether to build a highway segment in a corridor, and then the example is extended to a net...

The results of a survey sent to 400 motor carriers registered with the Ohio Trucking Association are reported. The survey was designed to lend insight on motor-carrier preferences for seven innovations of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that deal with the interface between government agencies and commercial vehicle operators. A rating scal...

The results of a survey sent to 400 motor carriers registered with the Ohio Trucking Association are reported. The survey was designed to lend insight on motor-carrier preferences for seven innovations of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that deal with the interface between government agencies and commercial vehicle operators. A rating scal...