Uruguayan government authorities have launched a public information program to promote an integrated mass transport system in capital Montevideo, an official from the local municipality's transport division told BNamericas.
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Local bus operator Cutcsa has already purchased 245 new vehicles. The buses are equipped with electronic fare collection and GPS systems, the official said.
The vehicles will also have large illuminated signs displaying the bus number and route. While this may seem irrelevant, it was one of the aspects transport ministry officials noted as one of the faults in Chilean capital Santiago's Transantiago system, according to the official.
Uruguayan authorities travelled to Chile and analyzed the implementation of Transantiago to learn "everything you should not do when launching a transport system," the official said.
This is one of the reasons Cutcsa made the purchase of the new buses public, and ran TV commercials about the new vehicles and the automatic fare collection system, even before the vehicles hit the streets. The abrupt launch of Transantiago led to general chaos among the population, the official added.
Cutcsa plans to use the electronic fare and GPS systems in all of the company's buses. The GPS devices will also be connected to a geographic information system, enabling company officials to monitor the bus fleet.
Initially, users will be able to choose between paying bus fares with cash or using the new electronic card. The card system is expected to be implemented in the second half of this year, he added.
The capital's integrated public transport system is scheduled to be fully operative by 2015.
A total of US$160mn - financed by IDB - will be invested in the creation of the new system, of which US$120mn will cover road infrastructure improvements.
According to past reports, installing the electronic fare system will require an investment of some US$7mn, of which 70% will be covered by operators and 30% by the Montevideo municipality, the official added.
Other changes will include integrating some of the current bus routes and are being defined in conjunction with the five current operators - Cuctsa, Copsa, Codet, Raincoop and Solfy - that will continue to run the bus system.
