ABSTRACT
Urban transport in Latin America, as in most other developing regions of the world, is currently undergoing dynamic changes due to massive and rapid motorization.1 While public transportation still continues to dominate the urban transportation markets of most of the region, private motor vehicles, particularly the automobile, are quickly eating into this traditional dominance. With per capita private motor vehicle fleet growth approaching 10 per cent per year, trip rates rising, trip distances growing and mode shifts occurring, many of the region’s cities are approaching a crisis point. For example, in Santiago, Chile, from 1977 to 1991, while the per capital motor vehicle fleet increased by 3.5 per cent per year, motorized trips per capita increased by nearly 6 per cent per year, auto mode share increased by 4.3 per cent per year, and bus mode share decreased by 2 per cent per year (SECTRA, 1991). These trends have most likely further intensified with the near 8 per cent per capita fleet growth averaged since 1991.
