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The way the peak and plate and individual motorized mobility were conceived in Bogotá will continue to change. For 2021, the District Secretary of Mobility prepares a package of adjustments to the exceptions to the vehicle restriction that will be guided under the premise that the driver must ‘pay what contaminates’.
Today, a driver can be exempt from the peak and plate if he has a hybrid or electric car, uses a shared car or pays ‘Pico y Placa Solidario’ to not have a peak and plate for six months. In the second quarter of 2021, there will come the ‘Phase II’ of exceptions, and then an ambitious ‘Phase III’. The variables that the District has in mind to take the next step are: time, type of vehicle and kilometers traveled.
(You may be interested in: ‘This is not fanaticism for the bicycle or a war against the car’)
This was confirmed by the head of this portfolio, Nicolás Estupiñán, to EL TIEMPO in a conversation about the cutting of accounts for mobility this year and the news that will come for 2021: a year that will continue to be infected with covid-19, but that it will surely generate much more movement in the streets.
The changes for motorized private mobility are no small thing. According to the District Automotive Registry, as of November 31, 2020, there were 1,946,229 auto, camper and truck type vehicles: this is 78.3% of the total number of vehicles.
The Secretary of Mobility of Bogotá, Nicolás Estupiñán.
Courtesy Secretary of Mobility
How did you do with the peak and tag this outlier year? How much did Bogotá ‘copy’ the new exceptions?
The balance we have of having adjusted the peak and plate against something that better reflects its potential as a demand management tool is quite positive. The result is positive on two fronts: was accepted and implemented in such a complex year and made a leap from the tool per se to manage demand.
We adjust to give the exception to health personnel, something fundamental. We got the Ministry of Health and the networks and clinics to give us their data and we quickly consolidated everything and got them to be exempt. We also managed to get armored vehicles out of the peak and plate exception, it was a tough fight, there are 17,000 vehicles of different people. And we include giving the possibility of giving an exception to high occupancy vehicles: it is a brutal message to use in a more efficient and equitable way all the resources we have, the vehicles, the infrastructure and the data.
How many have joined the carpool?
We have had weeks where, on the website of the Secretariat, 32,000 drivers with their car have been registered for the exception.
Since the exception of vehicles with three or more occupants began, 341,826 cars have been registered. There is an average of 28,485 registered vehicles per week.
Now we add another level and that is that some of the platforms or apps that allow shared mobility, legally, we have an agreement: the person registers for shared mobility there and is enabled with us.
(Further: Bogotá will have another 406 electric buses)
And how did it go with the method of paying to avoid having a pick and plate?
We have more than 2,600 vehicles that have applied for ‘Pico y Placa Solidario’ for six months. We collected about 5.5 billion pesos this year. We do not want to continue sending this message that those who have money can pay not to have a pick and a badge. You can pay as long as you comply with a symbolic solidarity action: recycle with Uaesp or make a money order or a contribution to Bogotá Solidaria en Casa.
(To continue reading: This is the agreement reached for the Climate Emergency)
What’s new for the peak and plate in 2021?
What we achieved this year was to sow that seed of having a differential charge for moving: when you move in a private car it generates certain negative externalities to society and if you are going to do so, you must pay it back.
The next step is to charge more differentially for the type of vehicle that I have, for the number of kilometers I travel and for the amount of emissions that I generate.
This is our phase II: we want to charge for the generation of negative externalities. It could enter between March and April of next year. We are looking for the possibility of having non-fixed rates. The previous administration spoke of a fixed charge (from ‘Pico y Placa Solidario’) for one year; we lowered it to six months. But actually, we would like to charge per trip, per kilometer, per minute. So we say ‘let’s lower the charge (from Pico and Placa Solidario) from six months to the minimum possible’: we want to lower it to charge per week or per month.
The second strong change is that we look at the type of car and the type of fuel that is used – that information is in the Runt – to calculate how much you have to pay. A late-model vehicle is not the same as a late-model electric vehicle… we know that trucks pollute more. In summary, I pay for the time I want to use my vehicle (during peak and plate) and for the type of vehicle I have.
Phase III would come in October. That would be much more accurate, paying almost than per trip: we want to be able to measure how many kilometers it traveled and, depending on the type of vehicle, see how much it issued to have a differential price for each trip in which I want to use my vehicle during peak and plate .
How would you measure the latter?
For that we will do some tests next year with applications. We say to people ‘Perfect, do you want to use your car during peak and plate? Good. This is the app that allows us to measure how many kilometers it is generating. ‘ This way we will know how much it polluted and how much it added in congestion to the Bogotá network.
Does this model exist in other cities?
There are few cities in the world with congestion charges. There is London, Milan, Helsinki … But there is no scheme that can measure collection with that level of precision. There are several apps and cities that are testing it, but it is not implemented.
Here, a comparison of how much space 250 people occupy on TransMilenio, by private car and by bicycle.
Lina Paola Rozo / Secretary of Security.
Has it been considered to enter the charging model for entering any point in Bogotá? As is already done in other cities …
Not yet. We are seeing that this is in a later phase where we say which are the areas with the most congestion and contamination. Then I would enter the variable where I am going.
(We suggest you consult: What would be the ideal car to ride in Bogotá?)
What improvements will there be to the bike paths implemented as a result of covid-19?
There were corridors where it didn’t work and we have no problem adjusting them. But we know that the modal distribution of cyclists increased to 12 or 13% and that on 13th street one of every three vehicles that travels is a bicycle.
In some corridors, such as the race 68, we saw that the orange briefcases are being stolen and we are seeing how to respond. We have to accelerate the intervention, we talk and articulate with the Idu so that we can start work (of TransMilenio on 68) there. Although briefcases are not an optimal solution, neither can we now make a harsh intervention because TransMilenio is coming.
In the South Highway we saw that it has not worked. The cyclists continued to use the infrastructure per platform… We saw the data and spoke with the mayor. In Autopista Sur a month ago we lifted the briefcases.
This is the number of cyclists who move on the bicycle lanes created from covid-19.
Mobility secretary
There are still doubts about the Green Corridor …
With the Green Corridor we are creating a new era and changing the paradigms a bit. Either we had a traditional road where 85% of the space is dedicated to cars that make only 15% of the trips or we had a heavy trunk ‘Caracas type’.
What we are doing is a different concept: mobility solutions are not just that, but a solution that accompanies the main ecological structure and that allows people to be and enjoy the street. It is a subject of cultural change and is a different approach to public space.
When we did the participation process, people want more space, more security and being.
Bogota City Hall
What will the bike path in the Green Corridor be like?
We have seen, depending on the origins and destinations, that bicycle trips are not very long. They are not end to end.
Therefore, the proposal is to have an infrastructure of cyclists on the sides, so that they have greater entrances and exits. But they will have greater interference with vehicles.
(Pasture: Is the Green Corridor the same as TransMilenio ?: The IDU responds)
How to guarantee that a 7th pedestrian street to 40th street is not invaded as it is today? Or that we end up creating a ‘pretty’ Seventh just for the north?
It is a great challenge. But I love that this is the debate now: how do we take full advantage of the Corridor and how do we create spaces with commerce, social interaction … That is going to be the most difficult thing.
It is a much more interesting debate than the mode.
How to pay for a 100 percent clean fleet from 2022?
This is how the new electric buses are being launched in Bogotá.
Milton Díaz / THE TIME
Due to the climate emergency declaration, Bogotá, as of 2022, will only be able to acquire a 100 percent clean or electric fleet. To do this, the District must submit funding proposals to the Council in January. Yesterday, Mayor Claudia López assured that three possible sources are being evaluated: transfer of 100 percent of the collection of the ACPM surcharge to Bogotá, transfer of the collection of green taxes to Bogotá or a ‘healthy tax’ on sugary drinks.
“We will see if these sources are sufficient or if we are going to need additional local sources,” said López.
For his part, the Secretary of Mobility assured that “From the District we say of course we want electric fleet, but we have to do it in a fiscally responsible way. There we are seeing that this (the peak and plate) is an important source. seeing is the contribution to parking lots, this has already been approved by the Development Plan. Now we have to take it to the Council so they can help us implement it “
ERNESTO CORTÉS AND ANA PUENTES
