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In a decision that very few understood, not even in her own party or in her Council coalition, the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, objected to an article of the draft agreement on Climate Emergency, which requires, as of the 1st of January 2022, for the city to only incorporate electric vehicles to the mass transportation service.
(Read on: What would the ideal car to ride in Bogotá be like?).
This means that Bogotá, from that day on, could no longer buy buses that operate with fossil fuels, gas or ACPM, in the case of diesel engines.
The Council rejected the objections, kept the deadline, but made a commitment to the Mayor’s Office to seek funding sources in January and, through a new draft agreement, define the technical and financial conditions for the transition from 2022 and some flexibility.
What this move shows is the level of improvisation and ignorance, and once again it proves that campaign promises are one thing and reality is another. The latter proves, firstly, that there are no electric bi-articulated buses on the market – except for a prototype of the Chinese brand BYD – that will replace the current TransMilenio ones in the future.
And there are more questions. “What are we going to do with the final disposal of the batteries? When and how are we going to do it? Where are the yards, workshops and recharging sites? And the cost? There must be a transition, electrical technology is expensive ”, affirms Councilor Lucía Bastidas.
Only until now, when time is short, the Mayor’s Office realized that it does not have the sources of financing or the logistics and support infrastructure (charging points), and that electric buses can be between 30 and 40 per cent. hundred more expensive.
Neither councilors nor officials seem to have consulted the world reality about the electrification of heavy transport, which is not a process of papers and decrees, but a very complex and costly infrastructure transition. Europe has just agreed that this change to electric urban vehicles can be fulfilled in 2030 and here they have already legislated for a period of 12 months.
Individuals, in the sights
As has traditionally happened in the last administrations of the capital, the private car became the ‘spinning top’ of the mayors. Without exception, the leaders increasingly punish its use with restrictions such as the peak and plate, charges for congestion or, as the current administration did, taking away space to give it to bike paths.
That, despite taxes, parking contributions and fuel surcharges that are paid to finance public transport, while traveling through roads in poor condition that make more money to pay from their owners’ pockets. costly damage from urban craters.
(It may interest you: The five best-selling cars in Colombia in 2020).
Precisely, One of the proposals to finance the purchase of new green or clean energy public transport vehicles is aimed directly at private cars.
The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, suggested increasing the surcharge on gasoline and taxes on parking lots and households with two cars, a proposal that was also presented to the Bogotá Council by the Secretary of the Treasury, Juan Mauricio Ramírez.
Although the increase in the surcharge is the competence of the National Government, the officials indicated that these alternatives must be sought for the “economic reactivation” and discourage the use of private vehicles. The Mayor’s Office can use the money from the surcharge as it wants – in fact, it is all committed to futures for the metro – but it is not in its hands to raise the rate.
“This is one of the sources that, we believe, should be explored as a possibility to achieve greater collections (…). The other option is taxes on households that have more cars. One could think of increasing the tax on motor vehicles by 20 percent when the owner has more than two cars, ”the Secretary of the Treasury told the Council.
(Continue with: What You Should Know About Using Visitor Parking.)
“The Council gave the administration the tools by approving the debt quota, the budget and the Development Plan, so that they come to tax the citizens with more taxes or surcharges. Citizens can not take it anymore, we are in a crisis that does not allow to impose more contributions and we must tell the Secretary of the Treasury to look for different alternatives, but that it does not affect the citizens any more, ”said councilor Samir Abisambra in a clear rejection of López and Ramírez’s proposals.
More fees and taxes
The cherry on the cake was put on Thursday by the Secretary of Mobility of Bogotá, Nicolás Estupiñán, who in statements to EL TIEMPO gave details on what awaits private car owners next year. More restrictions and more charges. Its justification is that the use of the private car ‘generates negative externalities to society”And their owners must repay them.
For this, Estupiñán states that from March or April there would be a differential charge for the type of vehicle, for the number of kilometers traveled during the peak and plate, for the amount of emissions. And without giving further technical explanations, he said that “we know that trucks pollute more (…). In short, I pay for the time I want to use my vehicle (during peak and plate) and for the type of vehicle I have ”.
(You can also read: How has the automotive sector done in Colombia this year?).
By October, the official added, there would be a more precise charge, almost to pay for each trip, for which tests would be done through applications that, he admitted, have not been implemented in other cities around the world. “There are several apps and cities that are testing it, but it is not implemented.”
Councilor Lucía Bastidas told EL TIEMPO that it is necessary to review all these proposals in the Finance Commission and said she did not agree with more charges for private car owners. “They have also been victims of the pandemic crisis, they have not been able to get their vehicles out, they are paying taxes for a year (…); in the pandemic, nobody won, we all lost and we cannot get angry with the private car in that way, “he said.
Under these conditions, what awaits private car owners is not good at all in a city jammed by traffic jams and besieged by crime, to which this new cascade of charges and restrictions is now added.
What happened to the electric buses?
Last Thursday, the first 120 electric buses of the 483 that TransMilenio tendered in 2019 were delivered. 9 routes start operating from Patio Fontibón I-Refugio on December 26, in the areas currently served by the SITP (Usme, Fontibón, San Cristóbal, Suba Centro and Perdomo).
In addition to these 483, TransMilenio has tendered and awarded 794 Euro VI buses in a second stage and 406 electric buses that were awarded on December 16. The second and third stage buses will be linked gradually throughout 2021 and 2022.
The first stage electric buses are of Chinese origin. In Bogotá, technical adjustments and legal procedures are made for the provision of public transport service. In addition, fleet control equipment, technology, Wi-Fi conditioning, information screens and general technical readiness are installed. These were painted blue at the factory and will not have their color changed. The Patio Fontibón I-Refugio has 56 double charging points, which allow the simultaneous recharging of more than 100 buses.
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