Study areas

Bogota (Colombia) and Quito (Ecuador) were selected as study areas in order to examine the built environment impacts of BRT systems considering that these two cities are two of the most matured systems outside Brazil. These two cities have been implementing this type of mass transportation system in different points of time as it is shown in table 4. Also, these two cities were selected because they provide an urban context of high densities where the BRT system is the main mass transportation system. Bogota and Quito are Andean cities with similar cultural and building technology characteristics. They are also similar in terms of geographic features

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determining urban growth boundaries, which facilitate comparative analysis. The

implementation of BRT corridors by stages in different points of time on these cities gives the present dissertation the opportunity to test hypotheses and compare between treatment and control groups.

Table 4 Study areas and bus rapid transit systems

City Population* BRT start operations

(year)†

BRT

corridors† _{length (km)}Corridor † Passengers _{per day}† _stationsSingle † _terminalsTransfer †

Bogotá 7,363,782 2001 8 106 1,980,000 135 14

Quito 1,619,791 1996 5 69 833,095 101 11

Total 8,983,573 13 175 2,813,095 236 25

†_{Sources: http://www.brtdata.org/. (EMBARQ, 2009)}

*Sources: www.brtdata.org, DANE (Colombia), INEC (Ecuador).

The possibility to access to primary and secondary data in both cities was also an important criterion for the selection of these cities as study areas. Four fieldwork visits to Quito and five fieldwork visits to Bogota between 2011 and 2014 allowed the author to conduct three types of data collection activities. First, fieldwork visits to collect built environment data around a sample of 30 BRT stations in Quito and 31 BRT stations in Bogota. Second, during these visits the author interviewed 35 participants in Quito and 36 participants in Bogota. Through follow-up semi-structured interviews, 7 participants were interviewed twice in Quito and 8 participants were interviewed two times in Bogota. Third, during these visits the author collected secondary data such as census data, land parcel data, geographic information systems (GIS) data at the City Planning Departments and the Cadaster Departments of both cities. The author also collected geographic information systems (GIS) data and secondary data about the location of BRT stations and future trunk corridors at the BRT agencies of both cities.

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3.2.2.1. Bogota

Bogotá is the capital of Colombia, is located at 2,600 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in Colombia with a population of 7,674,366 inhabitants within an area of 4,800/km2 (DANE, 2012). Bogota began the operations of the BRT system known as “Transmilenio” in 2001 based on the experience of Curitiba and Quito. Table 5 shows the four trunk corridors built in the first phase of “Transmilenio”. The “Av. Calle 80” trunk corridor began commercial

operations in January of 2001. The “Av. Caracas” trunk corridor also opened commercial operations in January 2001, but the expansion towards the BRT terminals (“Norte” and “Usme”) was completed in August of 2001. The “Autonorte” trunk corridor began commercial operations once the BRT Terminal Norte was operational. In 2002, an extension bordering the historic center was built from “Av. Caracas” to “Carrera 3” along “Av. Jimenez”.

Table 5 Phase one BRT corridors in Bogota

BRT Corridor Length (Km) Number of stations Start date (operations)

Calle 80 10.1 12 January 2001

Av. Caracas 11.9 14 January 2001

August 2001†

February 2002††

Autonorte 10.3 15 August 2001†

Av. Jiménez 1.9 3 June 2002

Total 34.2 44

Source: ("Global BRT Data," 2016) (EMBARQ, 2009)

†Expansion of Phase 1 with the opening of BRT Terminals Usme and PortalNorte

††Opening of BRT Terminal Tunal

The two main arterial roads at the west side of Bogota, “Av. Boyaca” and “Av. 68”, were selected to be part of the BRT network for the fourth phase of “Transmilenio”. To date, these two trunk corridors have not been built yet. It is unclear when the construction of these two trunk corridors will start. As a result, these two arterial roads or future corridors were selected as controls for the data analysis in this dissertation.

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3.2.2.2. Quito

Quito is the capital of Ecuador, is located at approximately 2,600 meters above the sea level. It is the core of a metropolitan area with 2,239,191 inhabitants within an area of 6,900/km2 (INEC, 2012). Based on the experience of Curitiba, Quito designed and implemented a BRT system with electric buses in its first stage. As it is shown in Table 6, Quito began in 1996 the operations of the BRT corridor known as “Trolebus” connecting the area known as “La Y” at the North of city with the area known as “El Recreo” at the South. This trunk corridor included electric buses crossing the Historical Center, which was inscribed in the World Heritage list by UNESCO.

Table 6 BRT corridors in Quito

BRT Corridor Length (Km) Number of stations Start date (operations)

Trolebús (La Y – El Recreo) 14.41 23 1996

Trolebús (El Recreo – Moran V.) 4.72 10 2000

Ecovía 8.45 17 2002

Corredor Central Norte 10.24 18 2005

Trolebús (Moran V. – Quitumbe) 2.62 3 2008

Corredor Suroriental 11.50 17 2010

Corredor Suroccidental 15.57 20 2012

Total 64.51 108

Source: calculations on GIS, Metrobus-Q and Brtdata (2016)

In 2000, the “Trolebus” trunk corridor was extended further south when the BRT Terminal “Moran Valverde” began operations. In 2002, the “Ecovia” BRT corridor began operations along the east side of Quito. In 2005, the BRT trunk corridor Corredor Norte began operations extending the service of this system further north to the BRT Terminal “La Ofelia”. The “Trolebus” trunk corridor was completed in 2008 with the extension of the system further south extending the service to the BRT Terminal “Quitumbe”. The trunk corridor “Corredor Suroriental” began operations in 2010 connecting the “Ecovia” trunk corridor with the BRT

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Terminal “Quitumbe”. In 2012, the trunk corridor “Corredor Suroccidental” began operations connecting the “Corredor Norte” with the south of the city at the BRT terminal “Quitumbe”.