Four Challenges to Improve Urban Mobility in Latin America

According to the Movilidad Urbana en América Latina(Urban Mobility in Latin America) report, some of the issues that must be discussed by the 15 most important cities in Latin America are, offering higher quality at a lower cost per trip, promoting regulations, reducing contamination, and providing more safety. Following is a diagnostic of the challenges faced in order to improve urban mobility:

1. Widen access :From a geographic and demographic point of view, the metropolitan areas have populations of several million people. Low incomes and the configuration of urban spaces limit access to the opportunities offered by the city for the majority of people.
2. Regulations: The public transportation services usually have a fragmented regulation in multiple governmental levels, making coordination difficult in order to guarantee efficiency and quality. Low salaries limit users to pay for the costs of mobility. This is linked to the existence of low-quality systems, with reduced rates, and discounts for different types of users.
3. Road safety: The quality of public transportation is poor. Travelling times and costs are high. Insecure roads affect the most vulnerable, that is, pedestrians.
4. Decrease contamination: The level of contaminating emissions is very high in many cities, which is detrimental for public health. Even though the levels of traffic congestion have not been quantified, they are recognized as being very high, especially in the largest areas.