Urban Transportation Solutions.

[Ries]

train to EZE, very good idea.
But subte and collectivos are different and complimentary.
The Subte doesnt run at 4am when I come home from the club.
The Subte can be faster, or slower. It can be hotter, more crowded, and on strike.
I like the redundancy of having both.
However, compared to the transit in Seattle, near where I live now, BA is paradise.
Seattle "collectivos" cost 4 dollars- 50 pesos or more, in the blue. They run every hour, in some cases, with much more limited hours of operation.
There is ONE "subte" style line, also expensive, and while its nice, it doesnt go very many places.
I will take Buenos Aires any day over most US cities.

 

[pitipur]

I'm full of unsolicited ideas about how to help fix the transportation disaster we live with daily.

The train thread got me writing a few down and I thought I'd take it to its own thread so other people can contribute.

These ideas aim to address the problems around Buenos Aires, not the whole country and to be realistic and achievable.

• Nationalize the urban and suburban colectivos. The current system is completely non functional and results in unnecessary overcrowding of the streets and underutilization of other methods of public transport. Some things that can be done following this move
  • Integration of fares. Lots of people avoid using multiple means of transportation since it implies pay more than a slower single colectivo
  • Removal of redundant colectivos. For example the 68. Once the connection between the H and D lines of the subway are complete there is absolutely no reason for these buses to continue to run. I'd also venture you could remove the 118 and 41 buses as well because of the following.
  • Realization that people can walk more than 2 blocks. Lets move bus stops a little farther apart. There is no reason that ever 2nd or 3rd block has a stop on it. This will increase the speed with which people move via colectivo and will also greatly reduce the negative effect that colectivos have on general traffic.
• New Highway: Raise the San Martin onto a viaduct for its entire length, that isn't actually my idea, it's something they're currently doing which I think is a great idea. My idea is that while they're at it they should build a 2 level viaduct which also could carry a highway from Av General Paz to Au. Illia. with exits at nazca, warnes, cordoba, and libertador. This would clear up some of the congestion around the panamericana and provide important connections for the west of the city
• Remove street parking in Once. Talk about no brainer. It's bad enough that people are constantly loading and unloading merchandise, why do we have to add to the problem.
• Buenos Aires - La Plata into the rio de la plata, underwater in a tunnel, over water on a bridge either way get it out of la boca. Connect Au 9 de Julio to Buenos Aires - La Plata in Dock Sud. This works on so many levels.
  • It revolutionizes the the downtown traffic situation by removing heavy transit from Huergo/Madero.
  • It would allow la boca to have a real estate resurgence with it's own beautiful view of sinking rust buckets. (Hey it works in puerto madero)
  • It could be connected to the Illia in Retiro and massively improve the connection between zona sur and zona norte
  • It could be multimodal, cargo trains running from the port around the city which would free up the right of way in Puerto Madero
• Connect the Belgranos. Using the right of way in Puerto Madero and La Boca, minimal expropriations would allow the connection of Retiro and Estacion Buenos Aires. This would do wonders for North - South connections including one long overdue, the..
• Train to EZE. This is a gaping hole in the transportation infrastructure of the city and the country. Assuming the previous suggestion is concreted an express train from EZE could run with stops in Puerto madero, Retiro, Aeroparque and Puente Savedraa, there by linking the international airport with a large number of international hotel chains, the downtown business district, the airport from which many international tourists will leave on connecting flights to other domestic destinations, the long distance bus terminal, the transportation hub of retiro, and the international ferry terminal.

And so much more... Unfortunately I don't rule the world and nobody cares about my ideas.

A few things Im not so sure of tho

I agree with a lot of the points, especially about nationalizing the bus lines, but your point about removing entire lines such as 68 and 41 isn't taking into account that those lines travel into areas that the subte doesn't reach. 41 for example goes all the way up through Munro, and a lot of people, myself included, rely on it for that. 68 goes all the way up to General Paz, 20 blocks away from Congreso de Tucuman.

The problem with anything requiring changes to the trains or new highways is that anything involving construction seems to turn into a disaster here. They've been working on a bus lane in Cabildo for I don't know how long now, and certain parts of that project have still barely even gotten started.

And what about the people who have to travel when the Subte isnt running overnight?

I do like most of your ideas, though some of them seem extremely cost-prohibitive (multi-level viaducts, underwater tunnels to La Plata). But man, there does need to be some better way to connect Ezeiza to the city.

The other thing I didnt understand is your Once street parking comment - are you talking about the whole barrio? What about the people who live there?

That being said, coming from a city where the only public transportation is an sparse, unreliable and somewhat dangerous bus system, I'm thrilled at all the public transportation here and how mostly reliable it is. There's going to be traffic in any major city housing millions of people, it's inevitable. But yes, there is definitely lots of room for improvement.

I'd also push for more biking, since that in my experience is THE BEST way to get around this city. Lots of mostly empty bike lanes in this city that are being totally underutilized.

 

[mulderfox]

there are bus lines on the same route as the trains and subtes because the unions of trains and subte stop the service on weekly basis and then you must take the bus

 

[Matt84]

Edit: In a similar vein we clearly need to purchase a large quantity of decals such as this one

Do you think the decal is clear enough? I envision a cross media information campaign.
I was once stopped by a security guard in a mall for "walking" an escalator (I was the only passenger). He thought that moving while riding an escalator was a safety issue...

 

[johnw100]

How about they replace their entire fleet of colectivos with poo buses , which will solve many problems, ie reduce pollution, improve health, lower fuel costs, somewhere to put all the shit in BA, bankrupt the country,etc

http://www.geneco.uk.com/Biobug/biobus.aspx

 

[gpop]

What I find mind bending is how it takes upwards of 1.5 to 2 hours or more sometime to move from Villa del Parque (for instance) to microcentro, and packed like a sardine in a hot bus that may break down at any moment. This trip is roughly 12 Km. Considering the wait time, traffic, full units that won't even stop (so, more waiting) then it all starts to fall apart. If it takes 2 hours to do this trip then the bus is averaging 6 Km/h. The average human walking velocity is 5 Km/h.
Many times I've opted to walk rather than wait... and wait... and wait, cram onto a bus and endure a very uncomfortable ride home.

I don't take the bus or subway any longer. It's been more than 2 years and I couldn't be happier with my alternative. I got my electric scooter (motorcycle) and cut the commute to half an hour, or 45 minutes with heavy traffic (has a max of ~ 48 Km/h with a 50 Km range). The bonus was also that I did not get sick as often either. Not having to share each commuters poor hygiene and bad manners was great, but as with all things there's give and take. Rain, infuriating , dangerous drivers are the norm now... but still.

What I would find progressive is first to remove many of the black smoke spewing, loud, unsafe, and unkept, vehicles off the road. Remove/recycle the abandoned, or unmoved (parked cars that have been in an accident and owners cannot/will not fix), wrecks off the roods. If car owners cannot afford to safely maintain and operate a vehicle then they should be compelled to do so or quit the vehicle.

Build overpasses for train crossings. Enforce rules-of-the-road for cyclists and crack down on motorcyclists that systematically break the law (seems like either of these do as they please without regard for norms of vehicular circulation). Impose super heavy fines for offenses in school zones. Impound cars/revoke licenses of chronic bad drivers. Have the police actually DOING their jobs when it comes to traffic violations. Retrain and impose higher standards and screening for bus drivers.

I could go on, but the idea is to improve a system on the verge of critical mass; it's not enough to put a bandage on it. The very mood of the city seems so aggressive, angry, exasperating on a daily basis for just going to and from work. Folks here are in the habit of bad etiquette with no/little/corrupt authorities enforcing the law properly... with more than 13 million people, it can't end well.

 

[scotttswan]

What I find mind bending is how it takes upwards of 1.5 to 2 hours or more sometime to move from Villa del Parque (for instance) to microcentro, and packed like a sardine in a hot bus that may break down at any moment. This trip is roughly 12 Km. Considering the wait time, traffic, full units that won't even stop (so, more waiting) then it all starts to fall apart. If it takes 2 hours to do this trip then the bus is averaging 6 Km/h. The average human walking velocity is 5 Km/h.
Many times I've opted to walk rather than wait... and wait... and wait, cram onto a bus and endure a very uncomfortable ride home.

I don't take the bus or subway any longer. It's been more than 2 years and I couldn't be happier with my alternative. I got my electric scooter (motorcycle) and cut the commute to half an hour, or 45 minutes with heavy traffic (has a max of ~ 48 Km/h with a 50 Km range). The bonus was also that I did not get sick as often either. Not having to share each commuters poor hygiene and bad manners was great, but as with all things there's give and take. Rain, infuriating , dangerous drivers are the norm now... but still.

What I would find progressive is first to remove many of the black smoke spewing, loud, unsafe, and unkept, vehicles off the road. Remove/recycle the abandoned, or unmoved (parked cars that have been in an accident and owners cannot/will not fix), wrecks off the roods. If car owners cannot afford to safely maintain and operate a vehicle then they should be compelled to do so or quit the vehicle.

Build overpasses for train crossings. Enforce rules-of-the-road for cyclists and crack down on motorcyclists that systematically break the law (seems like either of these do as they please without regard for norms of vehicular circulation). Impose super heavy fines for offenses in school zones. Impound cars/revoke licenses of cryonic bad drivers. Have the police actually DOING their jobs when it comes to traffic violations. Retrain and impose higher standards and screening for bus drivers.

I could go on, but the idea is to improve a system on the verge of critical mass; it's not enough to put a bandage on it. The very mood of the city seems so aggressive, angry, exasperating on a daily basis for just going to and from work. Folks here are in the habit of bad etiquette with no/little/corrupt authorities enforcing the law properly... with more than 13 million people, it can't end well.

by electric scooter do you mean this?

as i recently saw a guy with one of these in ba

 

[gpop]

by electric scooter do you mean this?

as i recently saw a guy with one of these in ba

no, like this:

For it's characteristics; it's ideal for city commuting especially for workplaces that don't have showers for the employees taking bicycles to work. Their limited speed/range also keeps people moving but not like motorcycles that tend to practice some more offensive style of driving. I find it very easy to stop, really nimble when it comes to hard braking, and apparently these are, by law permitted on the bicisendas and parking lanes (I've seen motorcycles ticketed for this while I got waived through because it's an electric). Can't go on the freeways with this though.

 

[Matt84]

by electric scooter do you mean this?
as i recently saw a guy with one of these in ba

so did I, was it in puerto madero?

 

[scotttswan]

so did I, was it in puerto madero?

nope congreso going along rivadavia

They're 500 bucks on alibaba.