Speeding up public transport

A Nebula TETRA solution supplied by Teltronic to Transmilenio is helping to transform the Colombian capital’s public transport system and reduce traffic congestion by providing reliable, secure voice, data and slow data services to its entire fleet of buses.

Traffic congestion is one of the major challenges faced by all major cities in the world today.

Over a number of decades, transport systems have grown and expanded in an unorganised, chaotic fashion leading to rush-hour gridlock with tired, frustrated, unproductive passengers stuck on cars, buses and trains for hours on end, damaging both their physical and mental health, the environment and the economic wellbeing of entire nations.

Local authorities are finally facing up to one of the major problems of the 21st century by searching for an integrated, sustainable solution.

Bogota, the Colombian capital, is a city of eight million inhabitants with 15,000 km of roads and as many as a million vehicles circulating at any one time.

By the late 1990s, the city’s archaic public transport system was on the verge of total collapse: dozens of private companies fighting each other for the best routes; buses up to 30 years old unfit for purpose; long working hours for drivers; no social security; no complaints procedures; drivers collecting cash from passenger; no disabled access.

Plans to build a metro system had never come to fruition. The prohibition of vehicles with certain numberplates on designated days of the week had been introduced, with limited success.

Out of this chaos, finally in 1999, the concept of Transmilenio was born.
First, the institutional framework was put in place as agreements were reached between government agencies, the local authorities and existing bus operators to create a new company run by the Urban Development Institute with the participation of licensed operators all working together under one umbrella organisation.

A small number of main routes was identified; main arteries were straightened; dedicated infrastructure was provided for the Transmilenio buses; passenger access was improved by providing ramps, bridges, modern, well-lit stations, cycle parking as well as facilities for the handicapped, elderly, pregnant women and small children.

Working practices were modernised and culture change was achieved, motivating and empowering staff.

Quality of life and productivity has been improved as Transmilenio now provides a premium service at an affordable price.

Technology has played an important role in this transformation of Bogota’s public transport system.
Modern, well-maintained buses are now driven by well-equipped staff with access to the latest onboard equipment.

Smart cards are used to pay for trips at automatic barriers, avoiding the need for large sums of cash to be handled.

A control centre manages the whole operation, allowing staff to identify bottlenecks in the system and communicate directly with drivers using an emergency radio, NEBULA TETRA network supplied by Teltronic.

This has been designed to provide reliable, secure voice, data and slow video services for all Transmilenio buses.

In the longer term, the total fleet could reach as many as 15,000 vehicles and the TETRA system will easily cope with several stages of growth in the future.

NEBULA is also fully integrated into the control centre IT and closed circuit TV systems and is fully compatible with existing AVL/GPS applications which can identify the precise location of vehicles at any time increasing the potential range of services provided for authorities, drivers and their passengers.

Transmilenio is a clear example of how political will and the latest ICT technology can come together to deliver powerful, integrated, lasting solutions to the greatest challenges we face today.

Although secure communications systems are not as visible to ordinary people as other components of the transport system such as roads and the vehicles themselves, they are the backbone that allows everything else to work smoothly and efficiently.

Teltronic