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Transcript of Lopez - Bike Sharing System in Santiago - Word2010
Implementing a bike sharing system in
Santiago de Chile, Velib’ Model
Sebastián López Serdio
Professor Eric Britton
Sustainable Development Seminar
July 11, 2011
1
SUMMARY
1. Introduction 3
2. Air pollution in Santiago: A phenomenon of the modern city 4
3. Comparison between Paris and Santiago
4. Challenges to the implementation of the project 5
a. Security and infrastructure 5
i. Car speed regulation 7
ii. Traffic Calming 8
iii. Bike Paths 10
iv. Traffic Signals 10
b. Police and security 11
c. Technology 11
d. Culture 12
5. Recommandations & conclusions. 16
6. References 17
7. Attachements 18
2
1. - INTRODUCTION
Air pollution in Santiago of Chile began to be a real problem 50 years ago with the
explosion of automobiles and the city's industrialization. Currently Santiago is among the
most polluted cities in Latin America placed in second position just behind the city of
Mexico DF in Mexico. Moreover, the country's topography favors the accumulation of
toxic particles into the atmosphere from cars, industry and heating systems in homes,
among others.
For all the above, there is urgent need to implement more environmentally friendly
transport systems because it is precisely from here where the major pollution of the city
comes from. Some studies conclude that 55% of the pollution comes from cars and public
transport system.
With this information as a basis, and my experience living in Paris, there is motivation to
explore the possibility of implementing a bicycle-based transport, similar to the system
Velib' in Paris. Clearly the model is not replicable in the same way due to various factors
such as geography, city size, and culture, among others.
In this report I intend to make a first attempt to assess the feasibility of implementing
Velib' in Santiago determining the conditions and/or changes necessary to achieve a
successful project, or conversely, to argue why it is not a viable project in the capital of
the South American country.
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2. - AIR POLLUTION IN SANTIAGO: A PHENOMENON OF THE MODERN
CITY
Although the phenomenon of air pollution in Santiago dates from colonial times, has been
in the last fifty years that the relationship between the city and pollution has led to an issue
endemic and inherent in it.
The factors that have determined that air pollution in Santiago and settle stable part of the
landscape can be grouped into two categories: natural and manmade. Among the former,
the most important is the geographical location of the capital, the city is located in a valley
foothills, almost enclosed by mountain ranges on all around which prevents smooth
movement of contaminants. This ring has only two major openings, one in the south and
another in the western sector. Winds are scarce and limited in scope and have the
characteristic of changing the sense that blow day and night. The dispersive effect of the
winds, therefore, is poor, and is rather to distribute the pollutants, especially particulate
matter in the entire area of the region committed. This is enhanced even more in winter due
to the weakness of the winds during this season.
Among the factors that are the direct responsibility of man are the explosive growth of the
city development and urban public transport in general. Like many countries, Chile has
suffered the effects of uncontrolled urbanization, produced by the migration of people from
rural areas to large cities and especially to the capital. It’s known all kinds of effects
produced by this concentration of population in urban areas, air pollution being only one of
them. For reasons of proximity to market and potential buyers, major industries have
tended to settle in the capital, in periods in which the criteria zoning and land use were not
yet developed.
Finally, 42.7 per cent of all vehicles circulating in the country are in the capital, estimated a
total amounts of 2 million plus all the public transport system. The urban road approach
was not designed for this amount of vehicles, which has meant in several traffic jams or
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congestion of roads, contributing to aggravate the situation and also generating another
contamination, noise pollution.
In general, it’s outlined two factors that influence the production of pollutants, according to
the traditional model of fixed sources and mobile sources. If this is coupled with the
geographic, topographic and climatic effects noted above, it is possible to understand the
reasons why Santiago suffers the problem of pollution of the atmosphere.
In 1996 Santiago was declared a saturated zone in which it was established that the capital
was overtaken by four air pollutants. The most common pollutants found in urban air of
Santiago are carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NO), ozone
(O3) and suspended particles (TSP).
3. - COMPARISON BETWEEN PARIS AND SANTIAGO
As a starting point, it is interesting to compare the cities of Santiago and Paris in order to
establish the dimensions of the project. In addition, it is useful to refer to Paris as a city
where Velib' is already operating with great acceptance by users.
Regarding the size of the territory, Paris occupies 105 square kilometers while the size of
Santiago corresponds to 640 square kilometers, in other words, Paris accounts for only
16% of the territory of the city of Santiago. In this regard it can be inferred that in a
smaller city, the easier would be to implement a transportation system based on bicycles
due to the short distances from one point to another, but clearly there must be an optimal
point in the relationship territory/inhabitants that allow a project like this to be profitable
and maintain a minimum of frequent users.
Santiago's population is approximately 7 million inhabitants, while in the city of Paris are
only 2.2 million. Here it can be inferred intuitively that while greater is the population
more likelihood to get a profitable project because it increases the potential number of
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users, but there is also the factor of "lifestyle" to determine how many people would be
willing to use bicycles. In Chile it is estimated that 1% of the population regularly uses
the bicycle for transportation.
The number of cars in Santiago is 2 million as mentioned above, the configuration of the
streets of Santiago was not planned to support this number of cars so it is common to see
traffic jam and bottlenecks. This in turn leads to another type of pollution known as noise
pollution and also increases environmental pollution. This occurs mainly in downtown
Santiago where people converge from other areas for work or study, the main universities
and offices are mostly in the center of the city.
If we analyze the total population in conjunction with the number of cars, we find that
there is a relation car/population equal to 3.5, ie 3.5 people per car present in the city or
285 cars per thousand inhabitants. Probably these indicators tend to rise over time, not
decrease, but an efficient urban bicycle project could reduce the growth of these indices.
With these three indicators we can get the first conclusions necessary for project
development:
1. The size of the territory of Santiago is too big to think about implementing Velib
'in all places. From the ends of the city to downtown would take about 2-3 hours
biking. For this reason, it is appropriate to analyze the flow of people during a
normal day of work/study to determine the busiest districts and destination of
these movements.
2. The city's topography as a whole does not favor the use of bicycles due to the
presence of slopes and hills on all sides of the city. In this sense, only the central
area of the city would support the use of bicycles easily.
3. The city is saturated with cars and this may be an argument for the implementation
of public bike system but probably the impact of this project will be minimal in
the number of cars circulating.
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4. If we took only 1% of the population of Santiago as regular cyclists, i.e. 70 000
people, the project would have a justification for its implementation. Probably it'll
be necessary a research about it in order to see if there's a real market in the city.
4. - CHALLENGES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT
For the success and efficient of a project of this kind we should always keep in mind the
basic idea that the city must provide a minimum level of security for users so that they
choose to use this means of transport.
Under this premise, and for implementing this system in Santiago de Chile, at least there
are three specifics challenges: security and infrastructure, technological aspects and
finally the country's cultural variable; a brief description of the changes needed in the city
of Santiago to implement the project are given as follows.
A. - SECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
i) CAR SPEED REGULATION
Speed regulations are important for this project because it is a factor in the accident
statistics and, in urban traffic is a factor that alters the quality of life of residents and
environmental conditions.
According to the Chilean traffic laws, the speed limit in urban areas is 60 kilometers per
hour for domestic vehicles under 3 tons and for buses, public transport and trucks the
maximum speed is 50 km/h. These regulations may be referred to modifications
depending on the municipality in each district of the city regulation that can go from 20
km/h to 80 km/h and must be marked with official traffic signs.
7
These regulations hardly will be changed because this would involve a process of analysis
by the government and the Chamber of Deputies, which is not a priority at the moment for
the country, therefore, the project idea is to adapt to these regulations and determine how
best to provide security for cyclists Santiago.
ii) TRAFFIC CALMING
An interesting principle is the "traffic calming" which aims to reduce risk to pedestrians
and cyclists in a city and improve the environment in which people live. Traffic control
involves a series of designs in the streets and traffic regulations that reduce the speed of
cars as pedestrians and cyclists share the road. Behind "traffic control" is the belief that
the streets are very valuable public spaces to be shared equally by all users. The
mechanisms for traffic control are simple, inexpensive, self-binding and easily modified
to accommodate emergency vehicles, garbage trucks and buses, among others.
Controlling traffic can reduce accidents, increase safety and convenience of pedestrians and
other non-conductive, giving more space for children to play, eliminate noise and pollution,
improves the view of the community, helping neighbors to rehabilitate and stabilize the
neighborhood and even avoid certain kinds of crimes.
The primary objective of most of the traffic control techniques is to make traffic slow down
at the same time allow access to vehicles. Reducing traffic speed is less dangerous, less
noisy and less pollutive. Slowing down also discourages vehicle drivers to use
neighborhood streets as a way of catching up. To control traffic on the road, engineers use
various physical and regulatory measures to change the psychology of the individual on the
street. The way the street is designed tells the driver what to do. Flat sections of asphalt
wide, straight tell the driver, "driving fast is good" but narrowing the lanes and the street
itself, making the road curve or using gardens, the streets are a relaxed attitude to
encourage walkers to say the conductor "you have to drive more slowly, this is a shared
space."
8
Traffic calming techniques are classified by type of problem that exists in the city. The
most common problems are related to speed, inappropriate traffic, dangerous intersections
and dangerous streets, and for each there are different methods for its control, for
example:
To regulate speeds are used:
• “Chicanes”: a form of extension of
platforms alternating from one side of the
street to the other, forcing cars and trucks
to take curved path along the street.
• “Mini Traffic circles”: Small
roundabouts installed in the middle of the
intersection.
• “Channels”: Painted lines or pavement
blocks of different colors to indicate to
drivers where in the street cannot drive,
narrowing the street and allows, for
example, the movement of cyclists.
9
Clearly this principle is a potential solution to traffic problems in Santiago but it requires
a thorough analysis by engineers and authorities to establish the feasibility of making
substantial changes. As the examples above, there are many other methods to calm traffic
and help cyclists in its posting, but it's not the objective of this work mentioning and
analyzes each one of them.
iii) BIKE PATHS
In Santiago there is a project to build 690 kilometers of bicycle paths by 2012 achieving a
network that covers much of the territory of the city from north to south and west to east.
If we take the worst case and the government’s project it's not fulfill, however, it seems
Santiago has bike paths that allow minimum movement through the city. (See attachment
# 1). The blue lines represent bicycle paths that are currently operating and yellow lines
represent the cycle of construction projects of roads, some are already completed and
others under construction.
Independent of the results, the government has the interest of creating this network and
encourages the use of bicycles as transportation. The problem in this case is again the size
of the city; hardly anyone could cross Santiago only by bike, due to distance, physical
ability or topography of the city. These reasons bring us closer to rethink the need to
select only some areas of Santiago to implement the bicycles.
iv) TRAFFIC SIGNALS
The current bicycle paths have clear road signs, very similar to those used in Paris,
including traffic lights, signs and signs painted on the floor. This point is not a major
problem, the difficulty lies in respect of these signals by the users and nonusers of bicycle
paths and also the decision to invest in them by the authorities and municipalities in the
different districts of the city.
10
B. - POLICE AND SECURITY
Probably in the first instance it requires the presence of security personnel or guards to
monitor the proper functioning of the system and guide users on its operation. On the
other hand, the presence of police as a watchdog could lead to greater respect from
people, moreover, they have the power to fine when someone violates traffic rules or
behavior on the streets. Clearly the police's role is a key to educating people about new
urban transport projects as well the police presence would help combat vandalism against
bicycles and stations.
C. - TECHNOLOGY
The technological challenge is related to how the subscriptions would be made, payments,
and retirement of bicycles from stations. Replicate the Velib' model probably is not
difficult but it's true that we have to pay attention to the means of payment due the
massification of credit cards is not as wide as in Paris, because of this, other methods
should be added in the payments, for example, cash.
The subscription can be done in the same way as Velib' through a web page only if the
user wants the service for one year. For shorter periods, we could enable the payment
system in subway stations with cash.
In Chile, the payment of public transport uses just one card called BIP! which is very
similar to Navigo card in Paris but it works different. For example, BIP! is an impersonal
card and the money spent must be charged directly into it at any subway station, unlike
Navigo where payment is monthly or yearly, having a contract with Metro de Chile may
be a feasible solution for the use of bicycles by providing the same technology used in the
subway.
11
D. - CULTURE
Probably the cultural aspect is the most difficult variable to change. Chilean culture,
specifically the people from Santiago don't have respect for forms of transport other than
cars because Santiago is not conceived as a city for cycling, therefore, the question is how
to change this behavior?
Surely the most appropriate method to change behavior is through strong marketing
campaigns supported by the Government of Chile, a campaign that should begin months
before the official launch of bicycles in Santiago delivering a strong environmental
message, respect, quality of life and welfare. Moreover, It may be useful the use of fines
by the authorities to condition the behavior of citizens.
12
5. - RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSIONS.
1. One of the objectives of this project is to reduce car use to combat air pollution in
the city but also seeks to recover the user profile of the bike and turn it into
something massive, so that anyone can use this medium as the sole or in
combination with other transport.
2. To encourage use of bicycles is a key coordination between municipalities to form
a network that allows people to move to different areas of Santiago. Today, each
bike path is the responsibility of the district where they are located and it's not
necessarily consistent with the bicycle paths of other districts.
3. Segregate streets of Santiago for the shared circulation of bicycles and cars, at
different times of day, especially in peak hours of traffic congestion.
4. To promote cycling culture in the streets where cars pass 50 to 80 km/h is
necessary to build bicycle paths, while on routes where vehicles travel between 20
and 30 km / h, the solution to ensure an adequate flow of bicycles is to implement
segregated paths.
5. The activities must take place within a framework of security, therefore, in every
corner and vehicular crossing could be placed a sign to indicate drivers that
pedestrians and cyclists have priority.
6. Bicycle paths not necessarily have to be built on the streets of greater flow of cars
in Santiago. A good idea may be to enable smaller roads on streets with fewer cars
and lower speeds. In these streets you can easily implement the concept of calming
traffic, for example, building "chicanes" in every corner.
7. The Metro and public transport buses should allow bikes up, this is a way to
integrate both types of transport.
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8. In first approximation, it seems that there are minimum conditions to implement a
means of transport based on bicycles but the main obstacle now is to create
conditions conducive about routes and circulation.
9. We must find an appropriate name for the project in Santiago. The word Velib' is
the merger of the French words Velo and Liberté. Replicating this model in
Spanish, it is possible to merge the words Bicicleta (bike) and Libertad (Freedom)
which resulted in the name of BICLI. Apparently it is an appropriate name
because it is easy to remember and it is similar to the word "Bici" which is
traditionally the way to say "Bicicleta" in Chile.
10. If we analyze the flows of people during a typical day in the capital of Chile we
find that there are highly concentrated areas that coincide with the center and
northeast sector of the city. The concentration is that there are major workplaces
and universities in the city. This analysis tells us that, at least in the first instance,
the project should begin in the following sectors:
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The reasons for choosing these sectors are:
• It is the central part of town where many people converge each day.
• It's the area where are the universities and most important centers of studies, about
30 universities.
• It is an area with highly congested public transport and could be a help to improve
this situation.
• Usually the center is showing the worst levels of pollution in the city.
• Included the district where you can find the main train station of the city.
• It is the most low and flat area in the city.
• It is an area with low vandalism.
Clearly there are many people excluded from the system, but the idea is to allow
the transport within the area once already in it so people who go for work / study
as well as the transportation of persons residing in the sector.
11. According to the defined area for the project, the number of bicycles would skirt the
10,000 initially, but with a smaller number of stations, i.e., more bicycles per
station, this is possible because the city has enough space for stations larger space is
not an impediment as it is in the city of Paris.
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6. - REFERENCES
Researches
1. “Contaminación del aire en Santiago: Estado actual y soluciones”, Raúl O´Ryan and Luis Larraguibel
• Web sites
1. http://www.recicleta.cl/content/view/656451/Mapa-de-ciclovias-de-Santiago.html
2. http://www.profesorenlinea.cl/ecologiaambiente/ContaminacionSantiago.htm
3. http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/index.asp?
id_ut=lacontaminacionatmosfericadesantiago
4. http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/streets4people/spanishversion.pdf
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