The News
Embassy Row - June 2009
Mexico City can often seem like a transport war zone, with vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists all waging a stressful battle to claim their share of the road. But the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy is fighting back just as hard to make public and pedestrian transport an accessible and attractive alternative for city residents.
ITDP, a non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, holds branches in 13 cities worldwide, including Sao Paolo, Bogotá, Jakarta and New Delhi. Funding for the NGO comes primarily from individuals and California-based donors like the Hewlett Foundation and Climate Works.
In Mexico´s capital city, a team of eight helps consult the local government on ways to build efficient public transportation like the Metro rail system and Metrobús lines.
In a metropolis where an estimated 6 million cars, taxis and buses clog the roadways each day, the group hopes to reduce the engines in favor of bike lanes, walkways and carpooling."We think that the future of the city, despite all the problems, can be much better than it is," said local director Bernardo Baranda from the group´s office around Parque México in Colonia Condesa.
"I think it´s an exciting time to be working on issues regarding mobility in the city because it affects everyone, especially their quality of life."
He said impoverished communities along the city´s peripheries were a target audience for such improvements. Many people in the outskirts take two to three hours and spend around 30 percent of their income just to travel into the city for work, meanwhile subjecting their lungs to exhaust fumes and airborne illnesses, he said.
In working to expand mass transit for everyone, for example, the ITDP chapter recently shared its technical expertise - studies of best practices implemented worldwide - as the city built and installed a second Metrobús line, which runs perpendicular to Ave. Insurgentes line.
Although outskirt populations lay mostly outside the reach of metro and bus lines, the group directs most of its approximately US$150,000 annual budget on projects in the city´s center.
"We definitely want to do more with that," he said on work in periphery communities. "Perhaps it hasn´t even been a question of resources, it´s that you also don´t want to try to do too many things at once."
And the organization, which established its Mexico chapter in 2006, is certainly not lacking tasks on its full agenda.
The group advised the city´s environmental secretariat earlier this year on installing bike racks in prominent spots near metro stops, public parks and inside parking garages.
Baranda said ITDP helped the city select the cost-efficient, inverted "U"-shaped models installed in various European capitals and in Chicago. The government in its first phase set up around 900 racks in April and has plans to add more throughout the year.
The group continues to consult planners working on Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard´s efforts to build 186 miles, or 300 kilometers, of bike lanes across the city´s core in the next couple years.
"We´ve done some experiments of which types of cycle lanes are better, like completely segregated from traffic flow or not," Baranda said. "That should be reflected once the bike lanes are constructed. The [secretariat] said they´ll call for bids on construction this year."
ITDP has also helped set up various crosswalk tickers that count down the minutes between red lights and green. And in a city where pedestrian mortality is an estimated 9.5 deaths for every 100,000 people, the group is monitoring foot-friendly walkways being built in areas like Buenavista and around Revolution Monument.
"We´re also trying to push for an on-street parking policy to place parking meters in areas like the Polanco, Condesa and Roma [colonias] to make car users more aware, to try and inhibit car usage a little bit and to create a lot of resources for area improvements," Baranda added.
EXPANDING TRANSPORT NETWORKS
However, the NGO´s agenda isn´t entirely consumed by Mexico City government projects.
ITDP also consults with local bicycle advocates like Mejor en Bici, a free bike rental service with stations in the Condesa, Centro Histórico and Coyoacán neighborhoods that offer street cruisers for a refundable deposit.
Baranda, a bike user himself, is also involved in the Bicitekas riding group, which meets each Wednesday night around the Angel of Independence monument to peddle together through the city´s crowded streets.
He said everyone at his office, in fact, rides a bike or travels via public transport, which brings the team face-to-face with the real issues confronting non-motorized travelers that often go unnoticed by those who drive cars, which he said includes most policy-makers.
And ITDP is nearly just as active in urban centers in Guadalajara and León, Guanajuato, where the NGO chapter is consulting local environmental secretariats on master plans for bike lane networks, or "ciclovías," that are already being developed.
Baranda noted that Guadalajara in March celebrated the opening of its Macrobús rapid bus transit line, which runs for 10 miles, or 16 kilometers, along the principal thoroughfare Calzada Independencia and which aligns in some spots with the city´s light rail system.
The group also helped host an Urban Cycling Congress in Mexico City last year, where transport organizations from cities like Puebla, Morelia, Xalapa and Cancún shared some of their efforts in working with local governments to increase awareness for non-motorized transport alternatives.
Despite the group´s steady efforts to cut pollution and increase safety on Mexico´s roads, however, Baranda said ITDP alone can´t single-handedly change the car-oriented culture.
"At the end of the day, we cannot replace the responsibilities of the government on spending money for infrastructure," he said.
"But the [Mexico City] government is becoming more conscious about this," he said. "The problems will get worse if we don´t do anything about it. It´s up to all of us to make those decisions that will change it."
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