00:00Every morning, thousands of people try to enter Bogotá via 13th Street.
00:05Private cars, motorcycles, buses, and cargo vehicles end up competing for space on one of the main corridors between the
00:12capital and Western Savannah.
00:13During peak hours, approximately 14,000 vehicles enter, and according to the Mobility Secretariat, at certain times the route
00:20It has taken up to 3 hours.
00:22Now, Bogotá, Mosquera, Cundinamarca and the Regional Mobility Agency are testing an alternative.
00:30Sometimes cars cross paths, there's no one to control them, because sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not.
00:35And they should implement something better, something that prevents the frangons.
00:40Since October 5th, a pilot program has been operating during the mornings, seeking to provide an additional outlet for traffic.
00:46that arrives from the west at the entrance to Bogotá.
00:48It will operate for one month, from Monday to Friday, between 5:30 and 9:30.
00:53tomorrow and temporarily modify the direction of three roads in Fontibón.
00:57Carrera 128 runs north from Calle 13 to Avenida La Esperanza.
01:02La Esperanza Avenue east to Carrera 103.
01:06And from there, Carrera 103 allows you to continue north and connect with Calle 26.
01:11The bet is really simple.
01:13To prevent all vehicles entering Bogotá from having to continue along the same corridor.
01:17From 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., we changed the direction of three lanes of traffic.
01:21the town of Fontibón.
01:23Carrera 128, which is located entirely to the north, connecting with Avenida La Esperanza.
01:29And Carrera 103 is left heading north, looking to lead towards Calle 26.
01:36If it has worked, it has worked very well, let's say for the entrance to Bogotá, if it has worked extremely well, it is less noticeable
01:42traffic jam.
01:43There are people who come from Mosquera and such, it takes them two hours, an hour and a half, and they've told me that
01:49They take about 20 minutes, half an hour.
01:51Well, I haven't felt it. I've come two or three times and I haven't noticed the change, no, no.
01:57For motorcycles, it remains the same.
01:58The truth is, well, it's still very congested.
02:00Yes, I see it just as congested because last Tuesday there was also a traffic jam a kilometer ahead.
02:07motorbike.
02:07It's still just as congested.
02:09It's very heavy, it's really very heavy, both going out and coming in.
02:13And right now, from what I've heard about the counterflow, leaving Bogotá has become more difficult.
02:22For now, these are the perceptions of those who travel or work around the corridor.
02:26The pilot does not yet have official results.
02:29During the first month, mobility will measure speeds, travel times, and new developments in the operation.
02:35To do this, use information from Ways for Cities, monitoring by the Strategic Mobility Center
02:39and measurements taken directly in the field by traffic assistants.
02:43The operation is not limited to the reversible one either.
02:46The routes of 14 public transport routes were temporarily modified, and in Mosquera,
02:51A turnaround that had been identified as a critical point for cargo vehicles was addressed.
02:56Those trucks no longer use another turnaround, located near the Mosquera Mobility Secretariat.
03:01We also have some critical points, and we've noticed that travel times and speeds are also affected.
03:09corridor
03:09They are around 10 kilometers, 11 kilometers away.
03:12So, what we were looking for was precisely to test measures that would help us use the current infrastructure we have installed and
03:21improve that mobility.
03:23But here the fundamental question arises.
03:26Changing directions, organizing return lanes, and better regulating traffic can take advantage of existing infrastructure.
03:32But 13th Street has problems that go beyond daily operations, and the authorities themselves are already...
03:36studying extra hours.
03:39The Regional Mobility Agency, the IDU, and the involved administrations signed an agreement for 20 billion pesos.
03:46to develop pre-feasibility and feasibility studies on these routes.
03:51The ARM provides 70% of the resources.
03:54One possibility is that the corridors currently operating within the pilot program will be converted from one lane per direction.
03:59two,
04:00accompanied by improved sidewalks and new bicycle infrastructure.
04:04But until the infrastructure arrives, that is, the expansion of these roads,
04:10So what we need to do is see how we can use the installed capacity we have.
04:15And that's precisely what this pilot is looking for on 13th Street.
04:20The picture also includes a much longer hour, the new 13th Street.
04:24The first section around the Puente Aranda intersection exceeds 50% completion by the end of August.
04:30However, the sections that need to continue the transformation from Carrera 69F to the Bogotá River still have a
04:37obstacle.
04:37The last tender was declared void after no bidders came forward.
04:42The other big bet is off the asphalt.
04:44Regiotrans de Occidente will connect Bogotá with Funza, Mosquera, Madrid and Facatativá
04:49and offer an alternative public transport option for thousands of journeys that currently depend on road corridors.
04:54But those structural solutions are still under development.
04:57While structural solutions are being developed, the pilot on 13th Street is trying to answer a much more immediate question.
05:04How much can one of Bogotá's main access routes be improved by making better use of existing roads?
05:09We will know the first results in a month.
05:12By then, we'll be able to tell if this alternative route really did reduce travel times.
05:16whether it shifted some of the congestion to other areas or whether, as those who travel the corridor daily are already warning,
05:22The problem needs solutions on a much larger scale.
05:32Thank you!
