1. Benchmark Report Comparing Six Latin
American Public Transport Systems
Juan Carlos Muñoz, Marco Batarce, Ignacia Torres
Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
June 2013

2. Goals of the study
• Compare operational indicators of the transit systems (bus and
Metro) of Ciudad de México, Guadalajara, Bogotá, Lima, Porto Alegre
and Santiago.
• Urbanized metropolitan areas were considered.
• Characterize the trips made during the morning rush
• Compare the real level of service offered to users for different trip
characteristics (distance, transport modes, infrastructure, etc.)
• Assumptions
– Users take the fastest route
– Measure real level of service, not user perceptions
– Only formal and massive transport modes were analyzed

3. Description of the Study
• We collected 100 indicators from each city
– Socio demographic
– Public Transport Operations
– Fares and payment mechanisms
– Contracts and payments to operators
– Infrastructure for public transport
– Vehicle characteristics
– Information for users
– User perception

4. Description
• Performance indicators were obtained from observation
– They are hard to find in the literature
– A common methodology is needed for comparison
• Travel times
• Walking times
• Waiting times
• In-vehicle times
• Operational Speeds
• Frequencies
• Reliability
• Number of transfers

5. Methodology
Generate a representative sample of 400 trips based on the public transport
OD Matrix
Determine the fastest itineraries for each of the 400 trips
Obtain the distance of each trip leg of each of the 400 trips
Measure operational speeds, frequencies and reliability of a subset of
services in each city
Estimate in-vehicle, walking and waiting time for each of the 400 trips
Derive across-trips variability and within-trip variability

6. General Information

7. Cities
City
Surface
(km2)
Population
(millions)
Density
(inhab/km2)
Income
(USD)
Trips
(millions)
Public
Transport
Share
Santiago 955 5.9 6,153 450 9.5 60%
Mexico 2,884 12.1 4,204 501 21.5 69%
Guadalajara 351 3.7 10,616 453 5.7 48%
Porto Alegre 497 1.4 2,844 402 2.1 50%
Bogota 478 7.4 15,412 613 10.1 68%
Lima 2,817 9.3 3,301 307 12.1 78%

8. Bus Systems
City Bus firms BRT firms
Other type
of bus firms
Bus fleet
Segregated
corridors (km)
Santiago 12 6,200 90
Mexico 1,100 8 1 57,900 328
Guadalajara 8 1 2 5,200 32
Porto 4 1 1,700 104
Bogota 67 6 15,700 106
Lima 312 4 4 25,100 27

9. Metro Systems
Santiago
Guadalajara
(Light train)
Mexico
City
Peak-peridod Fare
($ USD)
1.3 0.5 0.2
Network Extension
(km)
103 24 201
Headway (min) 2.4 5.0 2.7
Express services YES NO NO

10. Main Results

11. Main Results
• Santiago and Bogota offer comparatively high average
speeds
– Door to door
– In-vehicle
– For a given distance category
• Longer trips take longer but enjoy faster average speeds

12. Travel Distance and Speed
0
5
10
15
0
5
10
15
20
25
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto
Alegre
Bogota Lima
Speed
Distance
Travel distance (km) Average travel speed (km/h)

13. In-Vehicle Distance and Speed
0
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Speed
Distance
In-vehicle distance (km) In-vehicle speed (km/h)

14. Distance and Speed for Trips between 5 and 10 km
0.0
4.0
8.0
12.0
6.4
6.8
7.2
7.6
8.0
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto
Alegre
Bogota Lima
Speed
Distance
Travel distance (km) Average travel speed (km/h)

15. In-Vehicle Speed by Mode
City
Bus
(km/h)
Metro
(km/h)
BRT
(km/h)
All
(km/h)
Santiago 17.1 33.4 23.9
Mexico 8.8 21.1 13.9 17.4
Guadalajara 15.4 26.0 16.1
Porto Alegre 17.0 17.0
Bogota 16.3 27.2 19.0
Lima 16.0 16.0

16. Main Results
• In Santiago travel time variability among different trips of
similar length is the lowest, the highest is in Mexico City.
This is indicative of equity.
– Due to an integrated system in Santiago in which each user can
access the system through the fastest possible route for the same
fare
• In most systems the variability of waiting times for bus
services was quite high. In Metro was almost zero. This is
indicative of reliability. The lowest were in Lima, Porto
Alegre and Santiago.

17. Travel Time
0
20
40
60
80
100
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Travel time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

18. Travel Time for Trips between 5 and 10 km
0
20
40
60
80
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Travel time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

19. In-Vehicle Time
0
20
40
60
80
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
In-vehicle time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

20. In-Vehicle Time for Trips between 5 and 10 km
0
15
30
45
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
In-vehicle time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

21. Main results
• In Santiago, Guadalajara and Porto Alegre waiting time is
higher than that in other cities.
• In Bogotá, Lima and Ciudad de México waiting time is
smaller since a large fraction of services (90%) are
unregulated.
• These systems operate larger fleets and high frequencies
(55,000 in Ciudad de México, 25,000 in Lima and 13,000 in
Bogotá; in Santiago only 6.000)

22. Travel Time Composition
0
25
50
75
100
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Time(min)
In-vehicle Waiting Walking

23. Waiting Time
0
5
10
15
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Waiting time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

24. Travel Time Composition for
Trips between 5 and 10 km
0
15
30
45
60
75
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Time(min)
In-vehicle Waiting Walking

25. Waiting Time for Trips between 5 and 10 km
0
4
8
12
16
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Waiting time (min) City variability (min) Individual variability (min)

26. • Waiting time increases because users cannot bord
the first arriving bus
– In the case of trunk services, average waiting time
increases 55%
– In the case of feeder services, 29%
Waiting Time in Santiago
Percentage of users that can take the…
1st bus 2nd bus 3th bus 4th bus 5th bus
Feeder 77.0% 16.6% 6.4% 0.0% 0.0%
Trunk 67.4% 16.1% 12.0% 3.2% 1.2%

27. Bus Systems
Santiago Bogota Guadalajara Mexico City
Porto
Alegre
Lima
Bus firms 12 67 8 1,100 4 312
BRT firms 6 1 8 4
Other type of
bus firms
2 1 1 4
Bus fleet 6,200 15,700 5,200 57,900 1,700 25,100
Bus segregated
corridors(km)
90 106 32 328 104 27

28. Main results
• The walking times in Santiago and Mexico City are also
quite high.
• In Santiago the average distance to access the first vehicle
is 383 m, versus 340 m in Lima and 209 m in Bogotá.
• This is partly explained by buses in Santiago stopping only
at designated stops.
• Bogotá has low walking times

29. Walking Time
0
5
10
15
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Walking time (min) City variability (min)

30. Walking Time for Trips between 5 and 10 km
0
4
8
12
16
Santiago Mexico Guadalajara Porto Alegre Bogota Lima
Walking time (min) City variability (min)

31. Santiago vs Bogotá
• Santiago and Bogotá have similar populations and average
trip length
• Operational speed for each trip length category is also similar
• Average door to door speed in Bogotá is 13.4 km/h while
Santiago´s is 14.5 km/h
• However… both cities have followed a very different paths
– Santiago: 100 kms of Metro, declining transit modal share
– Bogotá: 100 kms of BRT, stable? transit modal share
• High capacity buses, segregated corridors, extra-vehicular payment

32. Travel Time in Santiago and Bogota
0
20
40
60
80
100
2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25
Traveltime(min)
Travel distance (km)
Bogota Santiago

33. Main Results
• In Santiago, speed in segregated corridors is significatively
higher than that in mixed-traffic roads
• For instance, speed is 25 km/h in segregated corridors, and
15 km/h in mixed traffic roads

34. Operation Speed according to Infrastructure
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
Mixed Traffic Only-Bus
lane
Segregated
corridor
BRT
(Bogota)
Metro Express in
Highway
Speed(km/h)

35. Main Results
• An additional conclusion, which is obtained from the
comparison process, is that the information availability is
very heterogeneous

36. Additional Observations

37. Number of Trip Legs
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Santiago México GuadalajaraPorto Alegre Bogotá Lima
Bus Metro BRT

38. Average Fare
City Average fare (USD)
Average fare per distance
(USD/km)
Santiago 1.37 0.12
Mexico 0.68 – 1.34 0.04 – 0.07
Guadalajara 0.68 0.08
Porto Alegre 1.64 0.19
Bogota 1.66 0.14
Lima 0.24 – 1.62 0.05 -0.08

39. Benchmark Report Comparing Six Latin
American Public Transport Systems
Juan Carlos Muñoz, Marco Batarce, Ignacia Torres
Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
June 2013

40. Detailed Analysis of Santiago
(in Spanish)

41. Distribución de Viajes por Distancia
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25 Más
Frecuencia
Longitud de viaje (km)

42. Etapas de Viaje
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Etapas
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Bus Metro
Etapas Totales = 2.29
Etapas Bus = 1.33
Etapas Metro = 0.96

43. Distancia de Viaje en Vehículo
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
DistanciaenVehículo
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Bus Metro
Distancia Total= 11.4 km
Distancia Bus = 4.8 km
Distancia Metro = 6.5 km

44. Composición del Tiempo de Viaje
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Trips Caminata Espera En vehículo
Caminata= 13.8 min
Espera = 8.6 min
En vehículo = 28.5 min

45. Tiempo de Viaje Total y Variabilidad Individual
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeviaje(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Viaje
Media = 50.7 min
Des. Est. = 5.0 min

46. Tiempo de Viaje en Vehículo y Variabilidad Individual
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempoenvehículo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. en Vehículo
Media = 28.4 min
Des. Est. = 3.5 min

47. Tiempo de Espera y Variabilidad Individual
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeespera(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Espera
Media = 8.6 min
Des. Est. = 5.8 min

48. Tiempo de Viaje Total
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeviaje(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tiempo de Viaje
Media = 50.8 min
Des. Est. = 22.5 min

49. Tiempo en Vehículo
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempoenvehículo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. en Vehículo
Media = 28.5 min
Des. Est. = 15.7 min

50. Tiempo de Espera
0
5
10
15
20
25
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeespera(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Espera
Media = 8.6 min
Des. Est. = 4.7 min

51. Tiempo de Caminata
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodecaminata(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. Caminando
Media = 12.6 min
Des. Est. = 6.2 min

52. Detailed Analysis of Bogota
(in Spanish)

53. Distribución de Viajes por Distancia en Bogotá
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25 Más
Frecuencia
Longitud de viaje (km)

54. Etapas de Viaje en Bogotá
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Etapas
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Bus BRT
Etapas Totales = 1.85
Etapas Bus = 1.41
Etapas BRT = 0.43

55. Distancia de Viaje en Vehículo en Bogotá
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Distanciaenvehículo(km)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Bus BRT
Distancia Total= 11.5 km
Distancia Bus = 7.3 km
Distancia BRT = 4.1 km

56. Composición del Tiempo de Viaje en Bogotá
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Caminata Espera Vehículo
Caminata= 8.6 min
Espera = 4.8 min
En vehículo =36.2 min

57. Tiempo de Viaje Total y Variabilidad Individual en
Bogotá
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeviaje(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Viaje
Media = 49.6 min
Des. Est. = 10.4 min

58. Tiempo de Viaje en Vehículo y Variabilidad
Individual en Bogotá
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempoenvehículo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. en Vehículo
Media = 36.2 min
Des. Est. = 9.1 min

59. Tiempo de Espera y Variabilidad Individual en
Bogotá
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeespera(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Espera
Media = 4.8 min
Des. Est. = 5.0 min

60. Tiempo de Viaje Total en Bogotá
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeviaje(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Viaje
Media = 49.6 min
Des. Est. = 24.2 min

61. Tiempo en Vehículo en Bogotá
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempoenvehículo(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. en Vehículo
Media = 36.2 min
Des. Est. = 23.3 min

62. Tiempo de Espera en Bogotá
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodeespera(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. de Espera
Media =4.8 min
Des. Est. = 2.3 min

63. Tiempo de Caminata en Bogotá
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 Más
Tiempodecaminata(min)
Longitud de viaje (km) Viajes Tpo. Caminando
Media =8,56min
Des. Est. =2,16min