This highly effective local transport system, which is accessible to all sections of the population, was built in just 24 months. The existing bus operators were integrated into the system. TransMilenio has been so successful from the start that a more comprehensive network is now being rolled out across the city. By 2015, the plan is to make the network so comprehensive that 80 percent of the city’s residents will have a bus stop within 500 m of their home. The system works as well as a subway system. More than 1,000 diesel-powered articulated buses – 350 of which are from Mercedes-Benz – are deployed on the exclusive bus lanes. The city’s already wide roads helped the system’s rapid implementation.

Due to its high volume of passengers and high travelling speed, TransMilenio is one of the leading systems in the world. Interestingly enough, a considerable part of this program was subsidised by a special tax on fuel. This demonstrates how a local public transport system can be financed by an acceptable charge on private transport, thereby increasing the incentive for people to switch. As part of the integrated transport and environmental concept, cycle paths and footpaths have also been built for shorter routes.

The development of its public transport system has fundamentally changed the nature of the city and is now pursuing a policy to further reduce car usage. On work days the “Pico y Playa” system applies, which stipulates the times that cars are not allowed in the city. At the weekends there are more lines offered with which people can travel to leisure-time activities via the TransMilenio system, without having to drive. Without the political and personal commitment of the Mayor, who can be seen as the absolute driving force behind the system, the TransMilenio would certainly not have come about in this way. This clearly demonstrates just how critical political figures can be for the success of a transport system.