Bogotá to start charging cars in busy hours, streets

Bogotá's city government hopes to reduce traffic congestion and considerable air pollution with plans to charge motorists driving in some of its more congested streets, following the payment model begun in cities like London, El Espectador reported on 1 April. The Colombian Transport Ministry determined in December 2013 that this could be done in cities with more than 300,000 residents, after city authorities had presented pertinent studies. The mechanics of charging in Bogotá were not yet clear, but monies collected were to finance public and non-motorised mobility. Bogotá's acting mayor Rafael Pardo recently instructed the city's transport secretary to hasten relevant studies, which were to be presented to the city council on 2 April. He was cited as saying that cars with a single occupant would pay to drive on "high-congestion days, hours, zones and streets," and this was to begin on two of the capital's traffic arteries, 72nd and 116th streets. The daily observed the measure was initially intended to complement the pico y placa program, that restricts cars on the basis of number plates, but would at some point replace it.