Putting the Metro into Context

Cars block TransMilenio buses on Calle 13 y Carrera 10 today. The cop doesn't seem to care.

A massive traffic jam on Carrera 30.

 The ongoing mania about building a metro system - undoubtedly the salvation of the city! - might make us forget there's lots more important and immediate steps city leaders could take tomorrow to make Bogotá liveable. The subway's first line alone is projected to take 10 years to build and cost $7.5 billion - approximately the city's annual budget - and that's before the inevitable delays and cost overruns.

Meanwhile, is there anything the city could do to make transit sane?

I'll leave it to you to decide whether fining drivers who stop in the middle of intersections and discouraging private car use (read: a congestion charge) would get traffic moving.

Remember that if they do build the planned subway system, by the time the first line's finished a decade from now, the number of private cars in the city will have more than doubled, and many other transit projects will have been postponed or cancelled in order to provide funds for the subway.
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours