Last month I visited Bogotá, Colombia, a destination that’s been on my bucket list for a long time. In recent years the formerly crime-ridden and civil war-torn capital has made a remarkable turnaround: As recently detailed by Chicago magazine’s Whet Moser, Bogota has succeeded in lowering its homicide rate by more than 75 percent since 1993. During my stay in the city nicknamed the South American Athens, I was impressed by its many excellent museums, centuries-old Spanish Colonial architecture, and impressive Andean setting, as well as the hospitality of its residents.
Although I’m told conditions during rush hour are beyond sardinelike, TransMilenio makes a strong argument for following through with Chicago’s plan for robust BRT on Ashland Avenue. That proposal was back-burnered a few years ago after fierce opposition from residents and merchants who feared reallocating street space from autos to buses would lead to carmageddon.
While political support from the city government has been key to the success of Bogotá’s Ciclovía, that doesn’t mean the event has been free of controversy. During our ride Pardo and I met up with a group of local transportation planners and advocates, including Andrés Felipe Vergara, who works in the city’s office of mobility. Vergara told me that, back in 2007, a local congressman wanted to change the Ciclovía times so that cars could take over the streets again by noon and he could drive to his club for lunch in peace.
That sounds a lot like the Ashland Avenue stalemate. But a major lesson from Bogotá’s past successes with bus rapid transit and the Ciclovía seems to be that, when it comes to making positive improvements to a city, fortune favors the bold. v
