Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By
Maarten Warnaars

The daily chaos commuters face in Lima will abate slightly with the new modern public transportation system being constructed by Lima’s mayor, Luis Castañeda.

Over the past few week citizens of Lima have been escorted to the subterranean central bus station, below the Paseo de los Héroes Navales in the center of Lima, as a promotional scheme for Limeños to get to know the new project.

This subterranean bus station is part of the larger ambitious public transportation project, El Metropolitano.

The project began with the remodeling of the bus lanes and bus stops of the Via Expresa or “zanjón,” which was built by Mayor Luis Bedoya Reyes in late 1967, and building a subterranean central station. The project was promised to be finished in 2008 and much to our surprise, the deadline was not met and the project is still under construction. Nevertheless, many do not know that the original plans have been slightly altered to build a more modern and future-looking system. Luis Castaneda and his team decided to make a more extensive system that will eventually create 10 express bus lanes, such as the current Zanjon one, in all of Lima. 

The project is ambitious, incorporating the 3 principal characteristics in the project: security, time and quality. The idea is for people to be able to travel using a quality modern public transportation system that will be time efficient and safe to use without increasing bus tariffs. The plan is designed to extend the existing 9 km Zanjon, to a 26 km system from Matellini in Chorrillos to Naranjal in Los Olivos.

In addition, the project also includes 11 more tributary bus services that feed into the main express bus line making it part of the entire Metropolitano. This will take passengers from one extreme of Lima to another. For example, if you live in Urbanizacion Cedros de Villa in Chorrillos you can go all the way to Urbanizacion El Progresso using the same bus ticket, however you would first have to take a new 12 meter long or 8.5 meter long bus to the Matellini terminal, then sit in one of the 300 new 18 meter long buses in the express lane, get out in the Naranjal terminal, and take another bus to El Progresso.  

The most impressive part of the project is that the Metropolitano will run efficiently. The Municipality estimates that from the Matellini terminal to the central bus station it will take no longer than 35 minutes. This is a result of a rigorous bus schedule, like that of train times in Germany; to the minute. The Municipality said, “Each bus is designed to meet the schedule, which will be displayed at al bus stops and terminals. If there is a delay then it would be a result of an external factor, like another bus or a taxi blocking the bus lane, which unfortunately, could be the case here in Lima.”  Therefore, in theory the system is set up to run on-time and efficient.

As our lungs will be happy to note, all these new buses (300 main express buses and 222 tributary buses) will run on natural gas. They will be controlled by GPS and have an electronic information panel. The system is designed for easy access for the handicapped, such that all bus stops, terminals and the central station platforms will be level with the bus doors. This means that no one will need to use stairs to get on or off the bus, thus access by wheelchair will be simple and straight forward. This also saves time when getting on or off the bus. To the convenience of the users, the central station has stairs, electric staircases, and elevators for those in wheelchairs to enter the facilities.
 
The doors of the buses are synchronized with the doors at each bus stop, terminal and the central station. To enter the bus you have to pass through glass doors that only activate when the bus arrives, and the bus doors only open when the bus makes a complete stop. Therefore, people will have to wait behind the glass partition and doors in order to enter the bus. This is a very good security system so people who are not accustomed to such a system, do not endanger their lives by falling off the platform. In addition, this ensures that bus stops in its designated bus stop.
  
To add to the modernity of the system, a French company was commissioned to service a rechargeable bus card, such as those you see in other cities like New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Toronto, etc. This means you will not need to carry any change or deal with a ticker collector; just recharge your card now and then, swipe it on the electronic device and enter the bus.

The central station, located below Paseo de los Héroes Navales in front of the Justice Palace, will have 8 monitor cameras, along with serenazgo and security agents (guachimanes) that are connected with the police to ensure the safety of the estimated 120,000 people who will pass through it daily. It is estimated that about 700,000 people participate in some way with the Metropolitano daily).  Also there will be stores and kiosks in the central station, and an eventual connection to the new Interbank mega Plaza Real project in the civic center that will include Oeschle (a renewal of the Peruvian department store that closed at the beginning of the 1990s), a shopping mall, movie theater, a large playground area, food court, and offices. 

This is all very exciting. Lima is finally taking the steps to modernize its public transportation system.  As mentioned before this is the first step of a series of 9 other express bus lanes that will connect to the central station. The goal is to have an integrated public transportation system in Lima that is safe, on time and of utmost quality. This first phase includes that no buses within 400 meters from the Metropolitano are allowed to function. However, this does not mean that the amount of ‘micros,’ ‘combis’ and buses will decrease, just that they cannot operate near the Metropolitano. As ingenious as Peruvians are, they will have to find other routes in Lima’s streets to pass through.

The plan is very optimistic about its impact in making Lima slightly more modern but it is also concerned about the social-economic consequences that may occur. Living in Lima, and in Peru for that matter, goes without saying that some protest or strike may occur as a result of a change in policy or no change. 

The streets of Lima have already received the discontent and opinions of many concerning the Metropolitano. The Municipality is aware of this social issue and understands that creating a more efficient system could imply that some people, directly or indirectly involved in the current informal and formal transport system, to lose their only source of income. 

Therefore, the plan will also generate employment. The bus drivers of the 300 buses from the main bus service and those from the 222 tributary buses will only be allowed to work 6 hours daily, instead of the 10 to 12 hour days they currently operate. This will open up another driving position and more jobs. And not to mention job creation with the new security guards in the central station, the two terminals and 35 bus stops. 

One may criticize the project for not being more modern, such as building a light rail or subway system. This is a valid argument; however the economic costs would be substantially higher. In addition, a light rail or subway system would make many bus drivers unemployed and that would be very detrimental to thousands of people in Lima than depend on that source of income. The Municipality of Lima is aware of the financial and social costs to improve public transportation in Lima. Thus, the project includes private and public financing, and in order to not bring about radical protest the Municipality is planning on building the entire 10 lines of the Metropolitano step by step. Furthermore, the Municipality did mention that the system they are building can eventually be easily remodeled to a light rail or train system in the future.

By April 2010, Lima will have an extensive 26 km express bus lane unifying 16 districts from one corner of the city to the other with a modern subterranean central station that will provide a on-time, safe and quality public transportation service. 

For further information please click here to see a short video in Spanish.