Mexico City Bus Rapid Transit System Celebrates: Cuts travel times and exposure to pollution

MEXICO CITY, November 16, 2006 -- Metrobus today celebrates the 100 millionth passenger to enjoy faster travel and less exposure to pollutants since the system began operations in June 2005.

Since then bus travel times have been cut in half, with significant reductions in congestion, noise, and air pollution. Passenger exposure to carbon monoxide, benzene, and particulate matter (soot) has dropped by 50 percent compared to exposure on the older buses, many of which are still in use on other routes.

Metrobus uses 97 new, diesel-powered articulated buses to move 263,000 people daily at an average speed of 19 kilometers per hour along the famed Avenida Insurgentes. The new buses have replaced hundreds of smaller buses and alleviated the legendary traffic jams that afflicted Mexico City's longest avenue.

Based on figures from the non-profit Mexican National Institute of Ecology, increased productivity due to time saved with the new system could approach $15 million per year.

Mexico City mayor Alejandro Encinas and Metrobus director Guillermo Calderon will preside over a ceremony to celebrate the 100 millionth passenger today in Mexico City.

In 2002 EMBARQ, The World Resources Institute's Center for Sustainable Transport initiated a partnership with the Government of Mexico City and the Centro de Transporte Sustentable de Mexico (CTS-Mexico) to develop the 20-kilometer bus rapid transit system.

As cities around the world struggle with exploding populations of people and cars, Mexico City is demonstrating that Bus Rapid Transit can be a viable solution, even in politically charged and environmentally challenged cities. EMBARQ works by engaging the agencies that control city transport along with the city's bus owners and operators. This unique approach was key in easing the transition for more than one hundred individual bus owners and concession holders who are now part owners of the new system.

"The successful creation and successful operation of Metrobus is improving people's lives today, and providing a model for other cities to follow. Residents of Mexico City and the whole world can breathe more easily because of the 47,000 tons of CO2 that will not be put into the air," said Nancy Kete, EMBARQ's director. "Nobody thinks of time stuck in traffic as time well spent," she added.

The EMBARQ model of cooperation is now being applied in Chihuahua, and the State of Mexico. Even cities outside of Mexico, including Pune, India; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Istanbul, Turkey are looking to emulate Mexico City's success and are working with EMBARQ to create sustainable transport solutions for their cities.

EMBARQ - The World Resources Institute's Center for Sustainable Transport - acts as a catalyst for socially, financially, technically, and environmentally sound solutions to the problems of urban mobility. EMBARQ reduces the cost, risk and time of solving problems of air pollution, traffic congestion and public safety.

CTS-Mexico is a non-profit organization that supports the development of effective mobility systems that contribute to improving people's quality of life. Its approach is to promote synergies amongst governments, businesses and society, in order to develop cleaner and more efficient transport systems.

The Shell Foundation is the founding sponsor of EMBARQ. Based on its success in Mexico City, EMBARQ recently attracted a $7.5 million investment from the Caterpillar Foundation. For more information, contact:
World Resources Institute
Nate Kommers, media officer, +1(202)729-7736, nkommers@wri.org
Paul Mackie, senior media officer, +1(202)729-7684, pmackie@wri.org
Nate Kommers, media officer, +1(202)729-7736, nkommers@wri.org
Lic. Rocio Ortega Coronado, Coordinadora de Comunicación CTS, (+52) 55 3096 5742 al 45 Ext. 209, comunicacionescts@cts-ceiba.org

The World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people's lives. For information on WRI events, publications, research projects and experts, contact: Nate Kommers, Media Officer, +1(202)729-7736, nkommers@wri.org.New York: On October 1, 2001, the International Institute for Transporation & Development Policy (ITDP) launched a new initiative to support the development of Bus Rapid Transit systems worldwide. Bus Rapid Transit offers the opportunity to provide high-quality, state-of-the-art mass transit at a fraction of the cost of other options. Bus Rapid Transit utilises modernised buses on segregated busways and incorporates such features as pre-board fare collection, safe and user-friendly transit stations, simplified transfers and routings, and superior customer service.

Beginning with the great urban success story of Curitiba, Brazil in the 1970s, the concept of Bus Rapid Transit has now spread across the globe to cities in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America as well as other cities in South America. The relative low-cost of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is making it possible for cities in a range of financial and developmental circumstances to develop an effective and sophisticated mass transit system.

The principal objective of ITDP's Bus Rapid Transit Initiative is to provide assistance to municipalities, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in order to realize a fully implemented BRT system. ITDP will be providing the following types of assistance to a select group of municipalities:

• Catalyse the needed political support and develop the institutional capacity to move BRT options towards implementation;
• Provide supporting technical documentation and background information on other BRT systems in the world including Curitiba, Bogota, Quito, Kunming, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and Brisbane;
• Support the conception, planning, and execution of a BRT through the provision of information on busway design, fare collection, intelligent transportation systems, bus technology options, branding and marketing, and customer service;
• Help facilitate a process of public participation to gather a range of community and private sector inputs and ideas; and
• Assist municipalities in the identification of specialised consultants and in the identification and selection of financing options

ITDP will be providing this assistance without cost to a select group of municipalities showing the greatest potential for BRT implementation. If your organisation or your municipality is interested in participating in the Bus Rapid Transit Initiative, please contact an ITDP representative:

Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205
New York, NY 10001, USA
Tel. +1 212 629 8001, Fax +1 212 629 8033
Email LFWright@usa.net
Web www.itdp.org

ITDP is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to the promotion of economically and environmentally sustainable transport for countries in the developing world. The Bus Rapid Transit Initiative has been made possible through grants made by the W. Alton Jones Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation