Choked in Traffic: Finding solutions for an out-of-control problem

Air pollution is considered one of the most serious and pressing problems in Mexico City. With more than 20 million people living in an area slightly larger than the Chicago region, exhaust from approximately 3.5 million personal vehicles and thousands of buses accounts for 80 percent of the region’s air pollution. Mexico City is considered one of the five most polluted and congested metropolitan areas in the world.

Until recently, approximately 80 percent of Mexico City’s population traveled throughout the city using the extensive subway system, light rail service, and bus network. Still, drivers spent an average of two and a half hours stuck in traffic daily. Along one of the city’s most congested arterials, Insurgentes Avenue, about 250 private buses -- with 150 different owners -- operated alongside the street’s 100 public buses. Coordination among the owners was impossible, and the traffic on Insurgentes was borderline intolerable.

In 2005, as a key component of the Mexican government’s Air Quality Program and Green Plan, the mayor entered into a public-private partnership to launch the city’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) system, known as the Metrobús, in 2005. The city invested less than $34 million in infrastructure and buses, while private investors spent approximately $20 million to purchase new, and retrofit existing, buses with modern BRT technology. The city oversees planning, explores expansion potential, and coordinates services while the private sector – a unified company encompassing many of the old system’s bus operators – manages the system’s operations and maintenance services. The Metrobús runs along the median with prepaid boarding, smart card technology, low floor buses, and designated stations. Moving more than 320,000 passengers per day through the heart of Mexico City, the Metrobús is known as the subway on wheels.

BRT in Mexico City improved mobility in the corridor by 50 percent and encouraged a 5 percent shift to public transportation from private vehicles. The system has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 47,000 tons every year. The success of BRT in Mexico City has the mayor planning an additional 124 miles, installing nine more BRT corridors, and moving as many as 1.7 million daily passengers making it one of the world’s largest BRT systems.

Mexico City introduced the potential of an expansive BRT network along one of its most challenging traffic corridors with great success. While the air quality isn’t as terrible here as it is in Mexico City, Chicago doesn’t want to work retroactively to battle its growing congestion problems. Proactive solutions such as BRT systems can provide significant benefits and important contributions to an already built urban environment.

Metrobus in Mexico City - Photo Courtesy of Emily Tapia Lopez

For Additional Information:

Metrobus BRT PowerPoint – Centro de Transporte Sustenable
Unlocking Gridlock – EMBARQ World Resources Institute
Sustainable Transport Expands in Mexico – World Resources Institute

NEWS

Local News

CTA service cuts, fare hikes on the table – Chicago Tribune “CTA service cuts and more fare increases must be among the possible options to erase a projected $155 million budget deficit this year, transit officials warned Wednesday, adding that a decision will be made next month.”

Gas tax pain but how much gain? – Daily Herald “A state gas tax hike of up to 16 cents is gaining some traction in Springfield to help fund a crucial capital program to build roads, repair bridges and put people back to work.”

Authority says CTA will get $241 in stimulus funds – Chicago Tribune “Mayoral chief of staff Paul Volpe said Friday the agency will use the money to purchase hybrid articulated buses, rebuild aging buses and rail cars and replace Blue Line subway tracks.”

CityLink looks to replace vehicles – Peoria Journal Star “Even with stimulus money, CityLink has only half the funds it may need for new vehicles. Some of its existing buses have been in service for more than a million miles.”

A cure for congestion, but is Chicago ready? – Medill Reports “Last year, Chicago was in the running to receive a grant of more than $150 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would have gone towards addressing the road congestion that has plagued the region. Today, after a missed deadline, the funding is gone. But the traffic is still here.”

Trolley helping Southeast Side residents get around – Chicago Tribune “Since the South Chicago trolley service started Jan. 2, residents said it has allowed them to rediscover their community, while business owners along the Commercial Avenue shopping district said they've seen increased foot traffic in their stores.”

'High speed'? Not with local freight system – Crains Chicago “White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Richard Durbin swung their considerable clout behind high-speed passenger train service for Chicago but have yet to come through for more important improvements in the area's freight railroad system. “

World News

Lower Gas Prices Are Not Increasing Driving – New York Times “The interesting question is why we’re driving less, with gas costing less than half what it did last June. It’s anecdotal, but available evidence suggests that the recession is a prime factor.”

High-Speed Rail Drives Obama's Transportation Agenda – Washington Post “High-speed rail has emerged as the cornerstone of Obama's ambitious attempt to remake the nation's transportation agenda, which for half a century has focused primarily on building highways and roads.”

States Explore Counting Miles To Replace Gas Tax – NPR “Plans for superefficient cars including plug-in hybrids and fully electric sedans are forcing lawmakers to consider alternatives to the gas tax.”

Public transit ridership hits highest level in 52 years – Washington Post “Despite job losses and falling gasoline prices, record numbers of Americans rode subways, buses and commuter rail last year, boosting public transportation ridership to its highest level in 52 years, according to a survey to be released today by the American Public Transportation Association.”

Time's up on old parking meters – San Francisco Chronicle “San Francisco wants the parking meter to be your friend. It's rolling out a next-generation model that can take credit cards and coins, raise rates automatically, and beam news of that rarity of city life, an empty slot.”

Boston hopes to launch European-style bike-sharing program – Boston Herald “The city has put out a request for proposals to create a bike share program. The proposal envisions a network of 150 stations scattered across the city with 1,500 bicycles available to students, commuters and visitors with the swipe of a card.”

Unbuilt Transbay station could soon be obsolete – San Francisco Gate “San Francisco's planned high-speed rail station in the new Transbay Terminal would be obsolete within two decades, state transportation officials warn, forcing them to rethink the design.”

Selling the gas tax – Boston Globe “Saturday's Globe reported that a smaller gas tax hike, perhaps 9 cents, is gaining momentum in the Senate. That would likely be too small to put transportation needs statewide on sound footing but big enough to choke off future efforts to raise revenue.”

A Boost for the Mileage Tax – Washington Post “The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, tasked by Congress to re-envision how the government pays for transportation infrastructure, unanimously called for a 10-cents-a-gallon boost in the federal gas tax and an eventual transition to a mileage tax.”

Where the Neon Lights Are Bright—And Drivers Are No Longer Welcome – Newsweek “Bloomberg’s plan to permanently bar traffic from large swaths of Broadway is the boldest example to date of an American city embracing the emerging—and controversial—theories of traffic science.”

Resources

Inrix National Traffic Scorecard 2008 Annual Report – Inrix
Proposed American Reinvestment and Recovery Act TIP Projects (Illinois) – CMAP
Proposed American Reinvestment and Recovery Act TIP Projects map (Illinois) – CMAP

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Contact Information

For comments, suggestions or submissions, please contact Emily Tapia Lopez, Associate, at etapia@metroplanning.org or 312-863-6047.