Mobility in Guayaquil
Mobility in Guayaquil
Federico VON BUCHWALD DE JANON
Abstract
Ecuador’s main port city of Guayaquil is among the 25 most populated cities in South America. The city
has low rates of motorisation and its residents mainly rely on public transportation to get around. This
article explores the reasons behind the success of the city’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system, and why nonmotorised transport mobility in Guayaquil is low compared to other cities in Latin America.
Introduction
Santiago de Guayaquil, located in the delta of
a gulf bearing the same name that flows into
the Pacific Ocean, is the largest city and port in
the Republic of Ecuador. It has a tropical humid
climate, with average temperatures of 27 °C
(max. 38 °C, min. 19 °C) and two distinct
seasons: warm and rainy, and fresh dry spring.
The city of Guayaquil is 6,128 km2 in size – larger
than Trinidad and Tobago, Luxembourg, Hong
Kong and nearly nine times the size
of Singapore. It has a population of 2,421,915,
making the city one of the 25 most populated
cities in Latin America. Its density is over 10,000
inhabitants per square kilometre, and certain
districts have up to 30,000 inhabitants per
square kilometre. According to the World Bank
(2015), the minimum wage in Ecuador (2016) is
US$366 – one of the highest in South America,
while per-capita income is US$6,350, placing it
95th among 180 countries. The employment-topopulation ratio of Guayaquil is 0.44.
The city has low rates of motorisation and its
residents mainly rely on public transportation for
mobility. Guayaquil has a massive public
transport system that meets one-fifth of the
city’s total demand. Dedicated public transport
lanes occupy less than 1% of roads in the city.
Non-motorised transport mobility is low
compared to other cities in Latin America
because of the city’s low public transport fares.
Metrovia Foundation, Guayaquil’s transport
system administrator, has only 50 employees
despite serving 530,000 passengers per day. This
is because it has outsourced its transport
operations,
including
fare
collection,
transportation
of
passengers,
planning,
programing and scheduling. The only activity
Metrovia actively manages is the monitoring of
all operations via CCTV.
Metrovia Foundation, Guayaquil’s
transport system administrator, has only
50 employees despite serving 530,000
passengers per day.
Public transport operations in Guayaquil have a
high index of passenger per kilometre (IPK) –
above 6 on average – largely due to low fares
(Fundacion Metrovía, 2016). An analysis of one
of Metrovia’s BRT lines revealed that people
who use the system make an average of three
trips per day and do not walk more than three
blocks. The use of public transport in poorer
-
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Mobility in Guayaquil
areas is also three times higher than in wealthier
areas, where residents only make up to two trips
per day. Buses on the three BRT trunk lines,
which connect populous neighbourhoods with
downtown areas, carry about 3,000 passengers
per bus per day, which means the system has
very high operational productivity.
Road Infrastructure
The city has about 4,000 km of roads, with
about 5% being highways and arterial roads,
and another 5% trunk roads and dual-lane
carriageways. The area occupied by the roads
total 32.19 km2. Additionally, another 1,000 km
of roads lie in the city’s periphery. In general,
Guayaquil’s road infrastructure is in good
condition.
-
Public transport reaches all the areas in the city,
which allows users to access bus services from
almost anywhere (Figure 1). There are 46.1 km
of priority lanes for public transport, which
amounts to 0.38 km2 from a total road area of
43.56 km2. This means that about 0.9% of the
area available for vehicles is exclusively used by
the BRT system (public transport with exclusive
lanes for Metrovia buses, Figure 2).
-
Public transport reaches all the areas in
the city, which allows users to access
bus services from almost anywhere.
Figure 1: Public transport routes in Guayaquil
Note: The red lines show the routes covered by urban buses, while blue lines indicate the three Metrovia BRT routes
Source: Municipalidad de Guayaquil, 2012
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Mobility in Guayaquil
in Guayaquil (12%) is one of the lowest in Latin
America (Andean Development Corporation,
2010). For Brazilian cities, this figure is about 30%,
while for Buenos Aires, Argentina, it is 51%.
Figure 2: A BRT lane on Boyacá Street
Table 1: Daily trips by type of transport
Type of transport
Public
Private
Total
(%)
1,985,022
55.57
436,747
12.23
25,016
0.70
Source: Metrovia Foundation
Taxis
Motorisation
Institutional
192,154
5.38
Others (non-motorised)
933,159
26.12
3,572,098
100.00
In 2017, the rate of motorisation (cars per
inhabitants) was 8% for light vehicles, and 2% for
motorcycles. Congestion in the city is beginning
to appear more frequently, considering the
total volume of vehicles exceeds the
motorisation rate of 10%. The growth in the
number of motorcycles has been higher in
recent years; however, this does not compare
to other Latin American cities, especially those
with urban bus fares costing about $1 (Andean
Development Corporation, 2010).
Mobility
According to an origin-destination study
conducted by the municipality in 2003 to
define the “Plan de Racionalización del
Transporte Público de la Ciudad de Guayaquil"
(Plan of Rationalisation of Public Massive
Transport in the City of Guayaquil), the mobility
of pedestrians (non-motorised) was 26%.
Public transport, including institutional transport,
was more than 60% (Table 1). Private transport
-
Total
Source: Municipalidad de Guayaquil, 2003
More recent studies by students of the Catholic
University of Santiago of Guayaquil show that
the number of journeys made using nonmotorised transport has declined further.
Despite Ecuador’s growing minimum wage
(currently US$366), the price of a single-trip
ticket has been maintained at US$0.25 for the
past 13 years. This reinforces the notion that the
use of non-motorised transport has a direct
relationship to the cost of public transport. And
because of a higher income per capita, car
use has grown.
Buses in Guayaquil
In 2013, the number of urban buses registered in
Guayaquil was 3,110, of which 2,644 (85%) are
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Mobility in Guayaquil
operating. There are 855 small buses and 284
microbuses, which are mainly used as school
buses. The BRT system has 392 buses – trunk line
1 operates with 60 articulated and 42 feeder
buses; trunk line 2, which started operations in
2013, has 73 articulated and 90 feeders; and
trunk line 3 has 65 articulated and 70 feeders.
According to a study made for the Municipality
of Guayaquil in 2003 by the United Nations
Development Programme, the number of trips
made per person was 0.95 per day. Buses
mobilised around 2 million passengers per day
in 2004, and 84% of residents (excluding the
portion that travel on foot) used this form of
transport. Between 19% and 29% of trips in
Guayaquil had their destinations within 5 km of
their origin – short enough to be made by
bicycle or on foot (Table 2). However, low fares
and the hot climate encourage the use of
public transport.
Buses mobilised around 2 million
passengers per day in 2004, and 84% of
residents (excluding the portion that
travel on foot) used this form of
transport.
The BRT System in Guayaquil
To determine the most suitable transportation
system for the city, an origin-destination study
was carried out in 2004 by the United Nations
Development
Program
(UNDP),
local
technicians, and technicians from Curitiba and
Bogotá. They identified seven trunk lines, with
an estimated peak volume demand of 15,000
passengers per hour in each direction. The BRT
system was determined to be the most suitable.
Mayor Jaime Nebot invited transport operators
to participate in the project, and they agreed
to supply the buses and all the equipment
needed for the operation of the Metrovia (BRT)
system under a 12-year contract.
Table 2: Trips below 5 km
Total no. of
trips
60,923
Zone
Ximena Parish Zona East Zone
No. of local
trips (<5 km)
18,930
Proportion of
local trips (%)
31
Parroquia Ximena Parish West Zone
57,012
16,733
29
Alborada
55,771
10,405
19
Urdesa
26,000
6,360
24
Kennedy
23,100
4,540
20
Villa España, Mucho Lote and Orquideas
21,440
5,920
28
Vergeles, Huancavilca, Valle de los Geranios
58,180
16,760
29
10c, 10b, 9 y 7 Blocks of Bastión Popular
30,920
7,600
25
Source: Reyes, 2013; Donoso, 2015; Guevara, 2015; Idrovo, 2015; Salavarria, 2015; Valencia, 2016
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Mobility in Guayaquil
Under the BRT plan, the municipality would not
invest or operate the transport system, although
it would supply the infrastructure for its
implementation using external financing. It was
specified that such costs would not be borne
by passengers.
Under the plan, the municipality would
not invest or operate the transport
system, although it would supply the
infrastructure for its implementation
using external financing.
Table 3: Cost of Metrovia infrastructure (US$)
Project
Investment
Engineering and management
929,569.34
Trunk line 1
38,230,481.44
Trunk line 2
26,090,587.86
Trunk line 3
22,722,937.33
Trunk line 4
137,258.40
Paving and road works
33,873,620.10
Contingencies
(paid expropriations)
4,744,629.94
Financial expenses
Total
The system’s infrastructure was funded by the
municipality to the amount of US$128 million
(Table 3). This allowed improvements to
sidewalks to cater for people with mobility
problems, the building of new parks, new water
distribution and sewage pipes, electrical
installations, traffic signals and fibre optic
cables. In addition, the pavements were
redesigned to withstand the load of the
articulated buses, bus stops, and terminals, and
the sectors where the feeders routes circulate
were improved.
1,724,405.72
128,453,490.13
Source: Andean Development Corporation, 2010
To control and regulate the functioning of the
system, the mayor created a municipal body
known as the Metrovia Foundation. It currently
employs 28 administrative staff and 22 people
to oversee BRT operations to manage the
network (see Table 4 for operating data). What
society demands of public institutions is
“service”, which is evaluated based on
“quality”. As such, Metrovia Foundation
established “quality of service contracts” that
-
Table 4: Operating data
Route
Number of
passengers
(2015)
Daily
average
Length of
trunk line
(km)
Total distance
travelled in
2015 (km)
Guasmo-Rio Daule trunk
50,596,627
4,216,386
32.2
7,283,676.84
25 de julio trunk
45,564,576
3,797,048
27.1
9,201,526.68
Bastión Popular trunk
49,393,739
4,116,145
33.0
9,569,764.88
145,554,942
12,129,579
92.3
26,054,968.40
Total
Source: Metrovia Foundation, 2015
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Mobility in Guayaquil
looks for companies to provide better services,
including equipment supply with contract times
adjusted to the lifetimes of the equipment.
The
services
outsourced
by
Metrovia
Foundation for the BRT system are:
• The supply and operation of buses.
• Operation control, system engineering and
fare collection (ITOR: Technical Integration
and Fare Collection Operator), contracted
by international public tender for 8 years.
• The supply of optical fiber networks and its
service (a 12-year contract in which
contractors
are
obliged
to
provide
communication services for 24 hours, 365
days a year).
• CCTV camera supply and operation at all
bus stops, with contract for 3 years of service.
• Supply and service of access control
(turnstiles and access doors to buses), under
contract for 3 to 5 years.
• Distribution of collected fares, contracted for
12 years to a trust established by ITOR and
the transport operators, regulated by
Metrovia Foundation.
• Advertising in public spaces.
In addition, there are contracts offered by the
municipality to provide security and cleaning
services at all bus stops and terminals, such as
the Rio Daule Terminal on trunk line 2 (Figure 3),
which are supervised and controlled by
Metrovia Foundation. The maintenance of
pavements and infrastructure are under
contract and supervised by the municipality.
Metrovia pays for particular services and when
the service fails, the contractor is punishable
with a fine, which is generally three times the
value of the service not provided.
Figure 3: Rio Daule Terminal on trunk line 2
Source: Metrovia Foundation
Outsourcing
transport
operations
has
benefitted the Municipality of Guayaquil in
numerous ways. The contractors are expert
companies in their fields – in most contracts, the
companies that provide services produce or
represent the manufacturers and have to
ensure the reliability of their products.
Metrovia’s administrative costs are low because
it does not operate any services; it only
regulates and controls them. Metrovia
Foundation pays for each given service in the
case of contracts that require new technology
to improve operability, with the contractor
bearing the cost of delivering the service, and
at no additional cost to the city. a
Outsourcing transport operations has
benefitted the Municipality of Guayaquil
in numerous ways.
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Mobility in Guayaquil
Fares & Revenue
Public transport fares cost US$0.25 in 2016.
Students, elderly and disabled people pay half
price (US$0.12), and blind people do not pay.
The average fare per passenger is US$0.24, This
transport
has
rateOutsourcing
is not subsidised
byoperations
the municipality
or
benefitted
the
Municipality
of
Guayaquil
Metrovia Foundation.
in numerous ways.
The money collected from fines is used
to exclusively fund services that benefit
passengers, such as CCTV security
cameras in stations and buses, and
special buses for disabled passengers.
Figure 5, 6: Special buses for disabled passengers
The money collected goes into an escrow
account and the accrual is distributed daily to
each operator based on passenger utilisation,
after deducting any fines. The technological
integrator and fare collection operator (ITOR,
Figure 4) takes 9.3% of the collected fare and a
fixed amount is paid to the escrow service.
Figure 4: ITOR’s collection control centre
Source: Metrovia Foundation
Source: Metrovia Foundation
Metrovia Foundation and the Municipality of
Guayaquil receive no income from transport
fares. The money collected from fines is used to
exclusively
fund
services
that
benefit
passengers, such as CCTV security cameras in
stations and buses, and special buses for
disabled passengers (Figures 5, 6). Metrovia
does not use the money it collects from fines for
administrative expenses.
The money collected from transport fares and
advertising inside the buses are the main source
of income for ITOR and the contractor that
supplies and operates the buses. ITOR provides
fare control and transport operation, and
supplies electronic card readers, bus control
equipment
(on-board
computers),
GPS,
electronic
card
payment/recharging
machines, information panels/screens, etc.
Infrastructure costs per kilometre are very low.
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Mobility in Guayaquil
User Experiences
Origin-destination surveys were conducted on
buses and every station on trunk line 1, with a
global representative sample of 16% of users
(out of a total of 154,993) on a workday from
6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Table 5). The most
common reason cited for using the BRT system
was to return home (34%), and the other main
activities for its use were work (24%) and school
(10%). Almost half of all users (42%) began their
journeys in the southern part of the city, while
26% began from the CBD, 24% began in the
north (the end of the route) and 8% began in
satellite towns (Duran and Samborondón).
Riders on trunk line 1 transferred to the two
other trunk lines 9% of the time, and 37% were
-
heading south, 35% to the CBD and 24% to the
north of the city. This shows that passengers
make three trips a day by public transport.
According to origin-destination surveys, people
walk three blocks to get to a bus stop and have
a travel time of half an hour on average. The
peak hours in the morning and in the afternoon
represent about 8% of the trips made between
6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
According to origin-destination surveys,
people walk three blocks from their to
get to a bus stop and have a travel time
is half an hour on average.
Table 5: Mobility parameters
Parameters
Passengers entering from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Transported people per day at an average of 1.8
trips per person
Peak hour in the morning
Peak hour in the afternoon
Passenger volume from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
(two-way)
Passenger volume from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
(two-way)
Gender
Average age of users
Composition of users by age
Statistics
154,993
86,107
6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
12,946 (7.53%)
13,549 (7.88%)
Male – 51%
Women – 49%
32 years old
18 to 34 years old – 51%;
35 to 54 years old – 31%;
0 to 17 years old – 10%;
55 to 64 years old – 6%;
above 65 years old – 2%
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Mobility in Guayaquil
Table 5: Mobility parameters (cont’d)
Parameters
Average travel time
Average no. of blocks that users walk to get to
the station
Statistics
30 min 7 sec
2.86
Average no. of blocks that users walk from the
station to their destinations
3.14
Main reason for travel
Returning home – 34%
Work – 25%
Study – 10%
Main origin of users
South – 42%
CBD – 26%
North – 24%
Duran and Samborondon – 8%
Main destinations of users
South – 37%
CBD – 35%
Zone 22 (Atarazana a T. Rio Daule) – 16%
North – 8%
Source: Gómez, 2015
Summary
Outsourcing key operations has allowed
Metrovia Foundation to keep operating costs
for the BRT system down and service standards
high. It has been able to do this without
subsidising fares, and reinvesting fines levied on
transport operators for quality or standards
_
breaches has allowed Metrovia to upgrade its
services and infrastructure at no additional cost
to the city. The case of Guayaquil shows that
keeping fares low encourages the use of public
transport and reduces the need for vehicle
ownership, a situation that also results in higher
incomes for transport operators.
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Mobility in Guayaquil
References
Andean Development Corporation. Urban Mobility
Observatory for Latin America. Bogota: Andean
Development
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2010.
Accessed
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22,
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https://www.caf.com/en/topics/u/urban-mobilityobservatory/.
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Operations
Federico VON BUCHWALD DE JANON is a civil engineer. He graduated with a
master’s degree in Environmental Impacts on Urban Infrastructure. He is the
author of Guayaquil Urban Mobility (2014). He is the president of the Municipal
Foundation of Urban Massive Transport of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Metrovia (BRT
System), a position he has held since 2004, and was the vice president of the
Latin American Association SIBRT (Integrated Systems and BRT) in 2009-2011 and
2015-2017. He is a professor and academic director at the Catholic University of
Santiago de Guayaquil and is a director of private companies in engaged in
engineering consulting and construction.
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