A classmate of mine wrote a blog post about the importance
of transit, which inspired me to write a post on transit as well (thanks
Sumbal! Her blog is sumbalwrites.blogspot.ca).
I decided I want to talk about transit in small town Ecuador because I did a
project on it when I lived there. It amazed me that my host brother and sister
made the hour-and-a-half trek from Guyallabamba (the town of 7000 I lived in)
to Quito every day to go to university. What amazed me even more was how many
other people did the exact same thing. This is a picture that my host brother
put on facebook the other day, referencing La Flota Pichincha (the name of the
bus system in the community). The caption translates to “Get on! It’s empty!”.
It’s been a while since I wrote the assignment, but I do
remember the reason I chose the issue of transit was because of the
inefficiencies I saw in the system. There’s only one route that goes through
Guyallabamba, which goes along the main road in town and then to Quito. It was
accessible for me, as my family lives a little off the main road. I know for
some of my co-workers at the preschool I worked at had a far walk to get to the
bus. There’s no extra buses at peak times, meaning people often couldn't get on
the bus and buses were filled to the brim and very unsafe because of that.
Also, many buses are not up to safety standards or don’t work properly (which
is especially important considering the hilly, mountainous terrain they have to
drive through). There’s also the issue of fare and fare collection. Everyone,
regardless of demographic, paid the same fare which was collected by a bus boy
who came around and asked you where you were going and told you your fare.
Once you get to Quito though, transit becomes much more efficient.
There’s designated bus lanes in the middle of the road, and rapid light rail
transit that I found easy to access with multiple connecting routes which made
getting from one end of the city to the other fairly easy. You pay fare to get into
the bus terminal/station, which made loading/unloading very fast. There’s still
a lot of traffic, as depicted in this picture of an intersection in the
historical district of Quito on a regular day (which I actually visited!). I
thought the traffic was managed chaos though.
It seemed to me that the government, both provincial and
federal, had focused on Quito’s transit while somewhat neglecting small town
transit (which I would argue is just as important and affects just as many
people). I’m now asking myself why that might be and what might make the
government start focusing on small town transit. Am I right in thinking small
town transit is important? How do you think we as development practitioners
should approach transit?
Also, here’s another blogger’s post about using transit as a
tourist in Quito… it gives you great idea of how their system works. They have
a slightly different opinion then me on the system’s efficiency, which I
appreciated: http://finaltransit.com/blog/2011/12/19/quito-public-transport-bus/
Hi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post about the importance of transit in the rural areas. How do you think transit planning should work in rural areas of developing countries.
I think transit planning in rural areas really depends on the needs of the community, and should be built around those needs. Maybe surveying residents, figuring out local "hot spots" where people go to often, as well as who uses the transit/when are important in figuring out when making a rural transit plan. With that information, routes and bus frequency/capacity can be determined so the community can be adequately served.
ReplyDeleteTransit is an interesting topic. Your first picture prompted this thought - comparing the transit experiences I had in the Philippines to those that I experience here in Waterloo, there are actually aspects I see from the Philippines that I feel need to be incorporated here. Even though this difference is largely based in culture, it is a positive thing - how they can cram so few people in such a small space! I don't know, I just think public transit here could be much more efficient if we won't so concerned about slightly bumping into the person beside us :)
ReplyDeleteWow that sounds insane! I've never experienced transit in the developing world. I think that a plan to service rural areas is a good idea since it would make it easier for people living there to access services only available in the city. Do you see the government being able to make these transit line a possibility? Do you know if it is a privatized system in Ecuador?
ReplyDeleteBailey, I agree! Compared to Ecuador, our transit in Waterloo is not nearly as packed. It is somewhat a culture thing, but it's a convention I think we can overcome. And Anna, the bus system is privately owned, at least in Guyallabamba. I think the government could contribute to/add to the current transit system, or make their own, which is what I concluded by doing the assignment I mentioned. I mean, I don't know how feasible this is would be though, but I can imagine the government would have the means to at least contribute to that private bus system.
ReplyDeleteI think that small town transit is definitely important , and in connecting to the larger cities as well. But I think they need to be careful how it's done because you don't want to encourage sprawl. I do think within the urban areas should still be the focus but definitely with a connection to smaller towns so they are not entirely left out.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true. Sprawl could be a concern, and better transit in small towns could make people want to move there. Connections with those smaller towns are definitely the key in my opinion as well, because people go from those small towns to cities on a regular basis
DeleteSmall town transit is without a doubt important to take into consideration. However, at the same time you have to consider the population being servered and the power that they have. Also, I wonder if you extend transit how far do you extend it? Where do you draw the line fairly? Sometimes its hard to make a boundary and say okay this is the furthest we are going to extend the transit system. It makes people angry, often the status-quo is easier to maintain in the public opinion then attempting to make any kind of positive change.
ReplyDeleteEquity is a huge piece of the transit puzzle. I think in terms of people impacted by both urban and rural transit, NOT servicing rural adequately would be a huge disadvantage that isn`t fair for those populations. And I agree, the status quo would be to support the majority and those who have the loudest voice, and in transit that means richer urbanites who want to continue to have good transit.
DeleteOh man this system is exactly like the one in Nicaragua. The buses that go to the capital city from other big cities are fantastic, they are almost exactly like the GO bus system here- except cheaper! But the buses from small towns are terrible, when I travel from Suina to Esteli it took me almost 12 hours with all the transfers and detours. I think the main problem that a lot of people don't consider, with out of town buses especially, is infrastructure i.e roads. From what I experienced the problem isn't just the bus system but the roads (if you can call them that-they're more like dirt paths) and their poor layout. I wouldn't mind taking a packed bus...as long as it didn't take 6 hours to make a 2 hour trip.
ReplyDeleteI agree! The roads were a huge problem as well. The terrain, at least in Ecuador, isn't forgiving either so good roads are even more important. I never had a huge problem with layovers/detours when I did travel to Quito, but I can imagine they occur often.
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