Factsheet: Urban Mobility Challenges in Ecuador and Quito

Ecuador is situated in South America on both sides of the equator. From the coastal plain at the Pacific Ocean the landscape rises to the inter-Andean central highlands with heights of more than 6,000 meters, flattening again to the rolling eastern jungle. Almost 40% (38.9%) of the area are covered by forests, 35% used for agriculture.

South America

Ecuador

Total population Population growth rate Median age Urban population Annual urbanisation rate Area BIP / person Traffic fatalities in Ecuador Motorization rate in Ecuador Average vehicle age Major cities

¹http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/ecuador-road-traffic-accidents ²http://www.oica.net/wp-content/uploads//total-inuse-2013.xlsx ³Hidalgo and Huizenga, 2010

15.86 million (July 2015 est.)

1.35% 26.7 years 63.7% 1.9% 283,561 km² USD 11,200 (2014 est.) 4,451 in total; 30.7/100,000 pers. (2014¹) 13%; 2 million in total (2013²) 10 years³ ∙∙ Guayaquil (2.7 million) ∙∙ Quito (capital / 1.7 million) ∙∙ Cuenca (580,000)

Table 1: Information on Ecuador, source: various

Overview of modes of transport Road transport The Ecuadorian road network has undergone major improvements mainly because of recent investments in the country’s infrastructure, supported by the introduction of road tolls. While less than 20% of the highways are paved, the Pan-American Highway forms the backbone of the country’s road network, linking all the major highland towns and cities from north to south. Other major routes are the Spondylus Route and Ruta del Sol (along the Ecuadorian coastline) and the Amazon backbone (crossing north to south along the Ecuadorian Amazon). In the Oriente Region the road system is least developed and serves almost exclusively the needs of the local oil industry. The network’s biggest problem has always been the weather, with floods and landslides both being common, knocking out roads for weeks at times.

Long-distance buses Inexpensive and generally reliable buses are the country’s preferred form of public transport. As the bus service is comprehensive, various forms exist:

∙∙ autobús de lujo: most popular main routes between cities

Figure 1: Map of Ecuador, source: wikimedia commons

∙∙ standard buses: these cover more local routes and stop for any passenger that hails them ∙∙ minibuses (busetas), pick-up trucks (camionetas) and rustic buses, i.e. open-sided trucks converted to hold wooden benches (chivas or rancheras): service the outer fringes of the bus networks and rural areas Larger towns usually have a main bus terminal (terminal terrestre), where all the long-distance bus companies are based.

Local city buses ∙∙ Primarily in larger towns, notably Guayaquil and Quito where they account for some 60% of all trips ∙∙ They generally carry a board in the window showing their route with a list of street names and key landmarks Figure 2: A chiva in Quito, source: © Dave Lonsdale @flickr, CC BY-2.0, http://bit.ly/2co0rhC

∙∙ Stopping to pick up passengers anywhere on request is the norm, though in some city centres

proper bus stops, marked parada, are respected

∙∙ Flat fare (currently around $0.25)

Railway The railway system covers only a small fraction of the country, but it is currently under restoration from its critical condition since 2008. It has a total length of about 965 km, stretching from nearly sea level in the north down to the south. Until now, only parts of it have been successfully restored. In 2015 the section from Ibarra to Otavalo was reopened. The railway is run by a state owned entity, the Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Pública (FEEP).

Transport legislation and organisational structure The National Traffic Agency (Agencia Nacional de Tránsito, ANT) is the national regulatory authority responsible for planning, regulating and controlling the management of land transportation, traffic and road safety. It also ensures free and safe mobility, provides quality services that meet the public demand and therefore contributes to the preservation of the environment and the development of the country. Its set goals are: ∙∙ to increase the quality and coverage of ground transportation service ∙∙ to increase traffic quality of the state road network ∙∙ to increase operational efficiency ∙∙ to increase the development of human talent ∙∙ to increase the efficient use of the budget ∙∙ to increase the level of road safety

New traffic law (Ley Orgánica Reformatoria a la Ley Orgánica de Transporte Terrestre, Tránsito y Seguridad Vial): The Law of Land Transit and Transport (“Ley de Tránsito y Transporte Terrestres”) was issued in 1996 and reformed over the years. However, it represented a series of contradictory and inconsistent provisions which contained no legal framework to organize, regulate and monitor the activities of road transport at national level. Besides giving low priority to prevention of road accidents and secure mobility for citizens, a major deficiency of the law has been the insufficient determination of functions and responsibilities of each agency involved in the activity of land transport. Hence, it became necessary to have a new law which comprehensively regulates various aspects of land transport, transit and road safety. Amended as an organic law in late 2014, it aims at organizing, planning, promoting, regulating, modernizing and controlling land transit and transport as well as road safety. While these measures support the protection of people and goods moving within the road network of Ecuadorian territory, the law simultaneously contributes to the socio-economic development of the country in order to achieve the general welfare of citizens. (Link:http://www.ant.gob.ec/index.php/ant/base-legal/ley-organica-reformatoria-a-la-ley-organica-de-transporte-terrestre-transito-y-seguridad-vial)

National Road Safety Plan The new traffic law is also the legal framework for the national road safety plan (2012-2020). A local government resolution empowers local institutions to establish and implement road safety plans. Currently, several local governments have road safety plans which are targeted to decrease traf-

fic fatalities and their consequences. The national road safety plan prioritizes seven measures of high impact to reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities:

1. Nation-wide program to enhance the behaviour of road users

2. Facilitate public campaigns to increase the awareness of seat belt wearing, speeding and drinking and driving

3. Promote helmet wearing through enforcement of regulation

4. Establish a specialized unit to monitor and improve the safety of the road network and vehicles

5. Execute a program to evaluate driver’s license education schools

6. Strengthen the post-crash emergencies system

7. Improve a national hospital trauma care system Alongside government agencies of different levels, several federations which represent various transport modes and their specific interests have emerged as powerful stakeholders:

∙∙ Federation of Heavy Load Transport of Ecuador ∙∙ National Federation of Unions of Public Passengers (Fenacotip) ∙∙ National Federation of Urban Freight (Fenatu) ∙∙ National Federation of Transport Operators of Taxis (Fedotaxis)

(Link: https://www.mintransporte.gov.co/Publicaciones/plan_nacional_de_seguridad_vial)

Quito Quito is the highest official capital in the world, situated 2850 m above sea level in a narrow valley in the Andes. The city grew in linear form to a length of about 30 km and a width of 3-5 km. The city itself has 1.7 million inhabitants, the metropolitan area (Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, DMQ) more than 2.5 million. Since 2013, responsibility for land transport, transit and road safety in Quito lies with the newly founded Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT). The Strategical Mobility Vision for the DMQ 2015-2030, presented by the current Mayor, Dr.

Figure 3: A street of Quito, source: © jkan997 @ wikimedia commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://bit. ly/2cTjwwk Mauricio Rodas Espinel, specifies strategies for the sustainable development of transport of people and goods. They provide an extension of similar measures determined back in 2009. Public transport accounts for about 60% of all trips with trends indicating a strong growth in individual transport. Indeed, the number of private vehicles has been growing by 7% p.a. on average throughout the last decade, aggravating the problem of

congestion. Whereas in 2008, 17% of roads in Quito had to cope with traffic exceeding their capacity, it is expected that this figure will well exceed 50% by 2025. The public transport has a fleet of 3,131 vehicles – conventional, articulated, trolleybuses and minibuses – from which 90% conform the conventional bus system and the other 10% of articulated buses operate in the BRT system. The fleet capacity accounts for about 100,000 pax/day while the estimated demand is 125,000 pax/day. However, the lack of efficient organization and the low quality of the public transport service led to a supply-demand gap, which encouraged the provision of private and informal transport services. Altogether, the deficit in the supply and the increase of informal transport use are due to two major factors:

1. The current regulatory framework which does not facilitate demand-driven incorporation of new public transport services, both in terms of capacity and coverage.

2. Sufficient control of public transport by the authorities remains challenging.

Public Transport in Quito The public transport system of Quito comprises the conventional bus system, the BRT system and the scholar and institutional transport services. From the total of trips performed by public transport, 36.4% are accounted to the conventional bus system, 34.5% to the BRT system and its feeder bus lines, 15.2% to the scholar and institutional transport services, 12.1% to suburban bus lines and 1.8% to the informal transport.

Figure 4: Modal Split in Quito (2011), source: Visión estratégica de la movilidad en el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito 2015-2030

BRT system MetrobusQ The BRT system in Quito is managed by the Empresa Pública Metropolitana de Transporte de Pasajeros (EPMTP), the transportation agency of the municipality of Quito. The BRT system originates in the trolleybus line opened in 1995 but was extended by four lines of diesel BRT.

∙∙ Trolleybus Corridor: Opened in 1995, the trolleybus is the backbone of the public transport network since it was the first fully planned public mass transit system in the city. It was also the first

Trip distribution in public transport in Quito Conventional buses

36.4%

BRT and feeder buses to BRT

34.5%

School and institutional buses

15.2%

Suburban bus services

12.1%

Informal transport

1.8%

Table 2: Trip distribution in public transport, source: Visión estratégica de la movilidad en el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito 2015-2030

Figure 5: Map of the BRT system in Quito as of 2012 BRT system using an environmentally friendly vehicle technology in South America. Its route has 37 stops on a 24 km distance, connecting the city from

the north-central in to the south end. The corridor is operated by 113 bi-articulated trolleybuses and doors to the right. The system is fed by 16 feeder routes. Recently, the Municipality acquired 80 dou-

Figure 6: People boarding a metrobus in Quito, source: © Agencia de Notícias ANDES, @flickr, CC BY-NCSA 2.0, http://bit.ly/2dddIzP

Distribution of the public transport offer - without school buses - 2014 TYPE OF UNIT

UNITS

SERVICES

%

Conventional Subsystem Buses Conventional

1.542

Urbanos

379*

Inter e Intraparroquiales

1.921

 

61%

BRT Subsystem - MetrobúsQ Corridors Trolleybuses (Tr) y articulated (Ba)

Feeder buses

TOTAL

113

Central-Trolebús (Tr)

122

Sur Oriental-Ecovía (Ba)

74

Central Norte (Ba)

309

 

70

Central Trolebús

130

Ecovía y Sur Oriental

400

Central Norte

301**

Sur Occidental

901

 

3.131

 

10%

29%

100%

Table 6: Distribution of the public transport offer, source: Estudio de movilidad-Proyecto Metro de Quito – 2011 y Reporte de la EPMTPQ octubre 2014

ble-articulated diesel buses (Euro III) to operate in this BRT corridor.

∙∙ Ecovía Corridor: Ecovía was inaugurated in 2001 and connects the centre-north station Río Coca with the central station Playón de la Marín. The buses run on diesel engines and are equipped with doors on the left side to be able to stop at intermediate platforms. 40 new articulated diesel buses were acquired in 2015 to operate in this corridor. ∙∙ North-Central Corridor: The North Central Corridor was planned and inaugurated in 2005, connecting the far north and the centre of the city. Despite being built by the municipality, it is operated by private companies. In 2011, the municipality had to reconstruct many stations, as the private operators had neglected them.

∙∙ South-East Corridor: The South-Eastern Corridor was inaugurated in 2010. It runs from south-eastern edge to the centre of the city. Although the corridor can be seen as an extension of Ecovía South, it operates autonomously. However, both systems share a range of stations. After a period of private operation the system is now run by the Metropolitan Public Passenger Transport Company (EPMTPQ). ∙∙ South-West Corridor: The South-Western Corridor was built and opened in 2012. The route accesses the city centre from the south-west edge of the city. In spite of criticism by the public, the line is run by private operators.

Metro Construction works for Phase 1 of the Quito metro system started in 2013; the inauguration is scheduled for 2016. The first line will have 15 stations extending from Quitumbe (in the south of the city) to El Labrador (north) covering a total length of 22 kilometres. The project is expected to carry 400,000 passengers per day. (link: http://www.metrodequito.gob.ec/metrohome.php?c=43) The total value of the project amounts to USD 2,009 million, financed in 63% by the Municipality of Quito and in 37% by the Government with loans from the European Investment Bank - EIB , the Development Bank of Latin America - CAF , the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB .The EIB states that the first phase of the Metro will “contribute to a significant improvement in air quality, with savings of a remarkable

30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions that would otherwise be produced by motorised vehicles”. Phase 2 of the metro system with 3 further lines is still under consideration due to financial matters. However, on September 24th 2015, the mayor of Quito announced that the city awarded the Metro-Alliance consortium to oversee the construction of the second phase. 4

Transport Demand Management Regarding traffic management, from the year 2010 onwards a strategy called “Pico y Placa” (“Peak and Plate”) was implemented. The circulation of vehicles is restricted during peak hour once per week depending on the license plate. Restriction periods: 7:00-9:30 and 16:00-19:30.

Figure 7: Planned metro line in Quito, source: Secretaría de Movilidad – Empresa Pública Metropolitana Metro de Quito. http://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2015/09/24/nota/5145158/consorcio-metro-alianza-sera-fiscalizador-proyecto-construccion 4

Bike-Sharing In 2012 the bike-sharing system “Bici Q” was implemented with a total of 25 stations and 425 bicycles. By 2014, 635 bicycles were available and a total of 3 thousand trips were performed every day with the system. Today the bike-sharing scheme has a number of 625 bikes. Its stations are located strategically close to transport hotspots. Prior to January 2015 the system charged a yearly fee of $25, but it is free of charge now. However, the bike-sharing service is still restricted to residents of Quito and cannot (yet) be accessed by visitors.

Figure 8: Bici Q - station in Quito, source : © Adriana López

It is a second generation system, which means that it works in a semi-automatic manner. The rent is started by the user at any station through a dedicated software but the bikes are manually secured in the station’s locking device. “Bici Q” operates 365 days a year, from 7:00 to 19:00. It has an additional software system to register the rents and runs two direct-contact offices open for the public.

More information on sustainable transport: ∙∙ Sustainable Urban Transport (SUTP) including “Sustainable Transport: Sourcebook for Policy-makers in Developing Cities”: www.sutp.org ∙∙ Capacity Building on Sustainable Urban Transport (CAPSUT): www.capsut.org

Figure 9: Bike lanes are not yet respected everywhere, source: © Carlos Pardo.

∙∙ 10 Principles for Sustainable Urban Transport Based on the approach “avoid-shift-improve”, the GIZ urban mobility team has designed a vibrant infographic on 10 principles for sustainable urban transport. The poster is available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Ukrainian, Georgian and Russian.

Other Cities Guayaquil Metrovía In Ecuador’s largest city, an integrated system of urban mass transit started operating on July 31st, 2006. It consists of three main BRT routes and 16 feeder routes. The system has 40 trolleybuses with a capacity for 160 passengers each that perform more than 306 laps on exclusive tracks. A ticket costs about $0.25, while students, people with disabilities and senior citizens only pay half. Payment is made with smart cards. The system operates from 5:00 to 24:00.

About us: The Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) is hosted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). SUTP’s main objective is to assist developing world cities achieve their sustainable transport goals, through the dissemination of information about international experience, policy advice, training and capacity building and targeted work on sustainable transport projects within cities.

Guayaquil-Durán Cableway

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is the leading global network of more than 1,500 cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future. ICLEI helps its members to become sustainable, low-carbon, resilient, ecomobile, biodiverse, resource-efficient and productive, healthy and happy, with a green economy and smart infrastructure and impacts over 25% of the global urban population. Through ICLEI’s network local leaders have the chance to connect, engage in global campaigns and strengthen their capacity to act for sustainability.

In April 2014, the Prefecture of Guayas announced the construction of the Guayaquil-Durán cableway, which is expected to complement the current public transport system and should boost tourism in both cities. A contract for the construction of the “Fluvial Teleférica” was signed with the private company Prostatus, which is also in charge of the Quito cableway construction. Being environmentally friendly, the system is supposed to carry about 20,000 people daily, thus helping to reduce congestion in the city and create new businesses, such as entertainment and recreation centres, food courts

Despacio, a Colombian NGO based in Bogotá, promotes human and sustainable cities, a healthy lifestyle of city dwellers and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Despacio is inspired by the slow philosophy and focuses on individual and everyday aspects of human life such as recreation, transport and consumption as well as on collective and macro issues like city planning and regional and national policies.

The bus service is operated and stations are managed by five private companies or consortia formed by carriers who had operated bus services in the city prior to the introduction of the BRT system. The Metrovía is administered by the Fundación de Transporte Masivo Urbano de Guayaquil which is a non-profit organisation and a legal entity of private law. It is controlled by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. The purpose of this municipal foundation is the development, construction, operation and management of a new public transport system.

and shops near the stations. However, it remains to be seen if it can contribute to reduce structural problems that negatively affect traffic today. Crossing the Guayas River, the construction will link the Durán boardwalks with the prefecture’s warehouses alongside the Pedro Menéndez Gilbert Avenue in the north of Guayaquil. The Municipality of Durán will donate 7 ha of land and will grant the construction permits.

Cuenca Tranvía de Cuenca Planned to open at the end of 2016, the Cuenca Tram will be the largest public transportation system of Cuenca and the first modern tram in Ecuador. It will transport around 120,000 passengers a day crossing the city from south to north.

The tram system was developed along four main goals: 1. Efficiency. High capacity and low energy consumption per passenger ensure an efficiency of the system which is fed by feeder buses.

2. Intermodality. The stations are built to link transport systems and are planned to be well accessible on foot or by bike, bus, taxi and private car.

3. Decongestion. The tram should motivate car drivers to shift as it provides an efficient, convenient, safe and therefore attractive way of transport.

4. Coverage. The tram covers areas that weren’t served by attractive public transport before.

Contact: Armin Wagner Team leader „Sustainable Mobility “ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - Transport and Mobility Email: [email protected] Santosch Kodukula EcoMobility Program Manager / Global Coordinator for EcoMobility ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Email: [email protected] Carlos Felipe Pardo Executive Director of Despacio Despacio Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer All other cover pictures and screenshots from respective publication. Findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this document are based on information gathered by GIZ and its consultants, partners, and contributors from reliable sources. GIZ does not, however, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information in this document, and cannot be held responsible for any errors, omissions, or losses which emerge from its use. This document contains links to third-party web sites. The linked sites are not under the control of GIZ and GIZ is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. Editor: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Sector Project Sustainable Mobility Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 65760 Eschborn Germany Tel. +49 (0) 6196 79-2650 Fax +49 (0) 6196 79-2650 [email protected] www.giz.de/transport On behalf of: The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Division 312 - Water, Urban Development, Mobility www.bmz.de