TransMilenio: between insecurity and the decline of its users

The TransMilenio transport system has been constantly criticized by the inhabitants of the capital due to the quality of service and the insecurity in the system. But at the moment it faces tangible problems: according to the company, since the pandemic began the flow of its passengers has fallen by about 50%, significantly affecting its economy.

Despite the fact that it is already taking normality, TransMilenio has not been able to recover its usual flow of users before the covid, something that is of great concern to the company but also the District, which has been forced to ask for debt from the Council, approximately $1.16 billion to the TransMilenio deficit.

Some political sectors have pointed out that the decrease in users has been the result of the poor policies of the transport company, which ended up generating an overpopulation of street vendors, cases of violence, sexual harassment, 'rapping', armed theft, among other irregularities that occur within the articles.

The District, which registered approximately 25 cases of theft reported daily in the first two months, launched the campaign “More than 25,000 Eyes Attentive”, which aims in a joint work between officials of TransMilenio and the Public Forces, to ensure the safety of the users of the system.

Precisely Councilman Ramírez Vahos pointed out on the subject: “As things are seen and if in the short term the demand for passengers in Bogotá does not recover, the gap will be unsustainable. What is projected for the fund in 2032 amounts to $21 billion, that costs the first metro line in Bogotá. What we are going to put in the fund this year is equivalent to the annual budget of Barranquilla, what Barranquilla spends one year for everything, Bogotá allocates solely to TransMilenio.”

In a statement, the Mayor's Office of Bogotá detailed that TransMilenio will operate in its normal hours and operations during the days of Holy Week.

First, on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th holidays, the trunk system will operate during the same hours of operation from Monday to Saturday, from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

With regard to the buses of the Integrated Public Transport System (SITP), the Mayor's Office suggested that users consult the TransmiApp application, since the vehicles do not start or end operation at the same time. With this tool, passengers will be able to check trips in real time and thus plan their routes.

The overall component of the police component for Easter also includes: 29,000 police officers for surveillance, 5,900 from the Department of Traffic and Transport, 2,500 for Tourism and Environment (Directorate of Protection and Special Services), 600 from the Directorate of Anti-Narcotics, 300 from the Police Aviation Area, 1,500 Carabinieri, 3,200 from the Intelligence Directorate, 600 from the Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Extortion Directorate, 700 from the Tax and Customs Police, 1,600 from the Criminal Investigation Directorate and INTERPOL and 7,500 from the National Directorate of Schools, among others.

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