Skip to main content

Chile's public transport service improves, study says

According to a study carried out by Santiago’s metropolitan transport department DTP Transantiago, the mass transport system operating in the Chilean capital has increased the number of buses operating and has improved frequency indicators in the last year. All seven companies operating different corridors within Santiago put more buses on the streets and exceeded the 90 per cent ratio set as the minimum to comply with regulations in the last three months of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012. Metb
February 20, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
According to a study carried out by Santiago’s metropolitan transport department DTP 5348 Transantiago, the mass transport system operating in the Chilean capital has increased the number of buses operating and has improved frequency indicators in the last year.

All seven companies operating different corridors within Santiago put more buses on the streets and exceeded the 90 per cent ratio set as the minimum to comply with regulations in the last three months of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012. Metbus was the top operator performance at 99.1 per cent, while Alsacia came last with 92.4 per cent.

All seven companies improved in frequency, with STP as the most regular bus operator, with a 90.4 per cent ratio. Alsacia was still below the 80 per cent minimum ratio required, at 77 per cent. Concessionaire Express, which a year ago was below the 88 per cent threshold, has now met the minimum target.

Transantiago was introduced in 2007 to improve public transportation by lowering the number of buses and optimising routes, but implementation was rushed, and changes in the seven years since it was introduced have been unable to solve what were initially seen as teething problems. The system has needed constant public funding, and over the past six years the government has injected over US$10bn to keep the system going.

Related Content

  • February 2, 2015
    Cycling in London grows by ten per cent
    London’s cycling revolution accelerated last year, with 2014 seeing new records for usage of the capital’s cycle hire scheme and overall cycling on the Transport for London (TfL) road network. Across the TfL road network, London’s main roads, cycling levels in quarter 3 of 2014/15 (14 September to 6 December) were ten per cent higher than in the same quarter the previous year and the highest since records began in 2000. It was the fifth record quarter in a row. By the end of 2014/15, TfL forecasts a 12 p
  • August 9, 2013
    National Safety Council estimates traffic fatalities down
    Preliminary data collected by the US National Safety Council indicates deaths from motor vehicle crashes during the first six months of 2013 are down 5 per cent, compared to the same six month period last year. In 2013, an estimated 16,620 traffic deaths occurred from January through June, compared to 17,430 in 2012. Definitive reasons behind the decrease are not known. "The Council will be keeping a close eye on our monthly traffic fatality estimates to determine if this decrease is just a blip on the rad
  • March 21, 2014
    Technology holds the key to painless parking
    Parking has been the most innovative of all the transportation sectors in the past five years. Richard Harris, Solution Director, Xerox Services outlines some of the key drivers and trends
  • April 27, 2012
    Q-Free preparing for new projects
    Q-Free has announced revenues of US$21.11 million during the first quarter 2012 compared to US$29.66 million in the corresponding quarter in 2011, while order intake came in at $44.29 million, $6.45 million more than in previous quarter and $2.96 million more than in Q1-2011, reflecting, the company says, that its general optimism regarding demand is well grounded.