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Barranquilla launches its Transmilenio

By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director

Monday, April 12, 2010

This week, the coastal city of Barranquilla launched a new public transport system that goes by the name Transmetro.

The Transmetro works much like Bogota´s transmilenio public bus system with buses that run on exclusive lanes and have designated stops.

The new buses are expected to ease mobility in the congested city of more than 1 million inhabitants that has lacked an organized public transport system and relied solely on small buses run by private operators. 

Transmetro buses will run on a limited frequency for about a month while the local population gets used to the system and local authorities put the finishing touches on the system´s exclusive stops and bus lanes.

Wednesday´s launching ceremony coincided with the city´s 197^th anniversary and was attended by President Uribe and local church authorities who blessed the buses, sprinkling them with holy water.

Buses that run on exclusive lanes were first brought to Bogota in the late 90s and over the past three years this scheme has been implemented in Pereira, Bucaramanga, and Cali.

Cartagena is currently building a similar bus system which will be called Trans Caribe and local governments also plan to set up bus networks that run on exclusive lanes in the nearby cities of Monteria, Sincelejo, and Santa Marta.