Public Issues
Nº 809 -
www.lyd.org- Email:[email protected]
March 2, 2007
ISSN 0717-1528
The Mistakes of Transantiago
In the three weeks that Santiago's new
transportation system has been operating,
substantial deficiencies in quality of service have been noted, with high wait times, agglomerations, lack of comfort, and dangerous situations. Many of these defects were precisely
what the new system was intended to solve,
and were created by mistakes made in the design and implementation of Transantiago.
1st Mistake: The size
manner with barriers, a card reader for collection that must be removed overnight and many
monitors that establish the respective lines.
This system of collection, which is similar to the
Metro, exists in other countries where a closed
bus stop with a human or mechanical collector
at the entrance allows customers to get on the
bus from all of the doors. This involves a more
significant investment and was studied during
the evaluation of the Transantiago project, but
of the fleet
was then discarded based on the estimations
of the flow of people. As such,
it is not clear that the 5,600 designated buses will be enough
The success of this transfor- to absorb the total demand with
a quality of service greater than
mation requires greater decen- that of the previous system.
tralization and fulfillment of This would call for an increase
contracts, giving more oppor- in the fleet and probably a retunity to the market to satisfy calculation of the fare.
The calculation of the
fleet required was carried out
using predictive models based
on data obtained in the OrigenDestino 2001 survey and updated in 2005. Since this data
has high margins of error, it requires an adjustment mechanism in order to face excess of
demand. As such, we have sig- the existing demand for trans2nd Mistake: Frequency
nificant errors in the predictions
portation in our capital.
Monitoring
that are manifested in the excess of demand. Given that the
In addition, there is a
system is administered centraserious problem in relation to
lly, it is very difficult to respond
the fulfillment of the frequenin real-time to the problems,
cies agreed upon in the conand reactions are produced only when they are
tracts with the companies. Given that the syssignificant and there is a public complaint. This
tem of satellite tracking has not yet been imoccurred a few days ago when there were so
plemented, there is no information about the
many people waiting for the main line bus 405,
effective frequency. The spot measurements
that at one point they took over the street and
carried out by the Ministry of Transportation
forced out-of-service buses to pick them up.
show that on weekdays and rush hours the fulLikewise, a driver was forced to change his
fillment is only at approximately 70%, and falls
route, while in many other critical points Carato less than a third during the night.
bineros (Chile’s national police) buses had to
transport people. More than a dozen of these
Thus, not having implemented the GPS
congestion or excessive demand points have
in the buses is a serious mistake, as the lack of
been detected, for which the authority has imreal-time information makes it impossible to
plemented a fare collection system at the bus
evaluate the fulfillment of what is promised in
stops,
which
was implemented
in a precarious
In this
edition:

The Mistakes of Transantiago

Conflicts and Chellenges of Judicial Year 2007
7
the contracts. With this, the calls by the UnderSecretary of Transportation to fulfill 100% of
the frequencies would be avoided.
bus-metro transfer would spend less than before, given that the fare is now integrated.
If the plan had worked well, there would
have effectively been a reduction in the cost of
transportation, but in reality there are two additional costs. The first arises out of the need to
use other means of transport,
such as “collective” taxis or
black market vehicles that ultird
3 Mistake: The feeders
If the plan had worked well,
mately lead to increased
there would have effectively
In those places where
spending on transportation.
been
a
reduction
in
the
cost
of
people do not have buses with
the required frequency, the
transportation, but in reality
The second is created
walking distances to the bus
due
to
the greater length of
there are two additional costs.
stops are much greater and the The first arises out of the need to time involved in using public
transportation. Greater wait
new routes don't seem to reflect
use other means of transport,
times and long walking disthe existing demand. Now the
mayors have been consulted in such as “collective” taxis or black tances have a cost equal to
order to help define these market vehicles that ultimately zero. This is an alternative cost
that should be considered in
lead to increased spending on
routes and nearly two dozen
the evaluation of the project
modifications have been made;
transportation.
which has clearly risen for
this will change the maps of
those that use public transporTransantiago and will require
tation and fallen for those who
that new, updated versions be
use their cars, given the reducprinted and distributed. Here is
tion
in
traffic
congestion.
The signal of relative
where the centralism of the planning is evident,
prices
is
clear
and
incentivizes
the purchase of
as routes were defined without effectively cona car in order to avoid having to use Transantisidering the realities of the various municipaliago.
ties. The more that adjustments are not done
suitably, the higher the demand will rise for
In fixing a variable such as price, other
black market transportation.
factors such as wait times or the use of transportation outside of the public system have
acted as adjustment variables; what Chileans
4th Mistake: The gap between the rich
are not paying with a higher fare is being paid
and poor is widened
in other ways.
The use of public transportation is inversely proportional to family income, occupyConclusion
ing close to 5% of monthly expenses in the
case of the poorest families, while not reaching
The previous public transportation sys0.9%1 in those of the highest incomes. In the
tem had several defects that fully justified an
evaluation of the effect on family expenses, the
attempt at modernization. In other countries,
matrix used by the authority for the design of
integrated transportation systems function with
greater success, where users know the exact
Transantiago is supposed to have made it so
time that buses pass each stop along a route.
that a person who made a bus-bus transfer or
In the same way, it would be a significant improvement if it were possible to reward
the companies for reductions in wait times,
which would place the incentives in the right direction.
2
The pressure to rush the implementafulfillment of contracts, giving more opportunity
tion due to the electoral cycle was not free, and
to the market to satisfy the existing demand for
many of the current problems
transportation in our capital.
can be attributed to this reason.
The use of public transportaThe centralized design tion is inversely proportional
has shown the common draw- to family income, occupying
backs to central planning.
close to 5% of monthly expenses in the case of the poorest families, while not reaching 0.9%2 in those of the
highest incomes.
The greater participation of private, decentralized decisions has been more efficient
in satisfying demand in every market, and
there should not be an exception here.
Therefore, the success of this transformation requires greater decentralization and
3