Leveraging current and historical data on location movements allows urban planners to understand current challenges and build smart, flexible and efficient cities.
As more cities begin to implement smart city planning based on data science, location intelligence insights help shape policies that will benefit neighborhoods and the people who live in them.
In Costa Rica there will never be a Metro, nor an urban electric train, nor any type of efficient public transport system simply because it does not suit the bus companies.
EDITORIAL
Lack of strong political leadership and a government with real capabilities is preventing Costa Rica from making the indispensable -and also inevitable- changes needed for it to regain its position as a leading nation in terms of economic and social development in Central America.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is preparing the first National Transport Plan of Nicaragua, with the help of national and international consultants.
The Engineer Pablo Fernando Martinez, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, met with funding organizations such as the World Bank, the IDB and the company JICA to evaluate studies on the National Transport Plan.
The renewal of the public transport fleet begins with the importation of about 300 buses powered by liquefied petroleum gas.
The renewal of bus concessions to be made by businesses by mid-2013 and early 2014 will be used by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) to bring in units which use cleaner energy sources, such as LPG or CNG (Natural Gas). The change will begin with 300 units, noted an article published by Crhoy.com.
The draft regulation in consultation protects current licensees of public transport services, limiting the entry of new and potential suppliers in that market.
Taken from the newsletter of Costa Rica’s Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM):
COPROCOM opposes the Regulations for the Operation of Special Services for Vehicle Transportation of Persons.
The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a loan to improve efficiency and safety in transportation systems.
A press release from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reads:
Nicaragua will improve its transportation system with an IDB loan
Nicaragua will improve the efficiency and security of the transportation system, and promote regional integration, with a $39.2 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The Ministry of Public Works in El Salvador has announced a tender for the construction of the first section of the Metropolitan Transit System, for about $10 million.
Viceminister Nelson Garcia said that this stage will consist of 3.3 kilometers of streets with dedicated lanes for articulated buses.
The stretch will run from Soyapango terminal to Avenida Norte 33, and will have three stops.
A study by a Spanish consultancy firm recommends subdividing the GAM as a guide for the investment programs of the Ministry of Transport.
The Spanish state run company INECO, specializing in transportation engineering and consulting, is responsible for the design of the National Transport Plan for Costa Rica, which aims to serve as a basis for establishing guidelines for future investments in the transport sector, including roads, air transport, ports and railways. These investments are intended to make the transport of goods and passengers more efficient, minimizing costs. In addition, the study recommends the most appropriate sector organization and should clearly define the responsibilities of each department within the MOPT. This will improve the country’s competitiveness and international trade.
Banrural and the German Bank for Development and Investment have granted a loan to Servicios para Centrales S.A. to finish building the bus transfer terminal CentraNorte in Guatemala.
The Rural Development Bank (Banrural) and the German Bank for Development and Investment (DEG, by its German acronym), have agreed to pay $40 million to the company Servicios para Centrales S.A., to complete construction of the bus transfer terminal CentraNorte, reported Elperiodico.com.gt.
Jose Maria Figueres, a former president with great potential to make a comeback in 2014, has proposed building a high speed light railway within the metropolitan area.
"During my government, I closed the railroad because I saw it as being 200 years old with narrow lines and it also had a tremendous deficit (as it was we used by only 3% of Costa Ricans).
The Colombian company, Conconcreto, has announced an investment of $25 million to build the project.
The new bus terminal will have capacity to serve two million passengers a month, and will be built by Conconcreto and the company Servicios Para Centrales, originally from Guatemala, which will provide the remaining 50% of the investment ($25 million).
In the past four decades great advances have not been made in the problems of water distribution, solid waste management, land use and transport.
Nine municipal administrations have presented action plans for solving the problems facing Guatemala City, but most have ended up as just that, plans.
"The current municipal authorities, in conjunction with the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), produced a study in 2008 called "Perspectives of the Urban Environment: Geo Guatemala City" in which a diagnosis of the city’s problems was given and a solution offered for each of them. It stressed that with population growth, the horizontal extension of urbanisation, the socioeconomic inequality in the greater metropolitan area, there would also be an increase in territorial imbalances.
Businessmen are concerned with impunity in the public transportation system and are requesting for the government to enforce the Law without exceptions.
Press release from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador:
Monday March 7, 2011
Chamber requests a comprehensive reform in public transportation
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador requests a reform to solve problems such as traffic accidents, route ranges, user abuse and congestion, among other pressing problems.
Brazil will provide technical assistance and credit lines for modernizing the suburban system for short routes.
Those companies currently involved in outer urban transportation will have to merge into a single company, in order to jointly invest in the technology required for the project.
The government of Brazil has showed its willingness to cooperate with Guatemalan authorities in developing a modern, safe and dignifying transportation system.