10 thoughts on “El Tren Urbano: Will it solve San Juan’s traffic congestion or create a new problem?”
Tren Urbano
In Puerto Rico there’s a car for every two people and over 25% of the island’s population (4 million) live in the San Juan Metropolitan area (1.1 million) where there are over 60% of all the island’s jobs. In the last 50 years cities such as Bayamón have grown in its population seven times over, but sadly, development has gone unchecked.
It’s also a city that struggles to be known and to change, with a $2 billion dollar new electric-train system and a integrated public transportation system similar to NYC and Chicago’s ( http://www.ati.gobierno.pr ) already finished and ready to be opened to the public, people are both pessimistic and optomistic about its future.
Can this tropical metropolis change from a land where the highway is King to a cleaner, more organized city of the future? With a high price tag, the stakes are high. Will people change their ways and realize that this train can work for them, or stick to their cars and wait until further extensions are made, if ever? You decide!
Tren Urbano
You forgot to mention that, today, more than 10,000 cars are sold PER MONTH in PR.
This influx is not being stopped nor being systematically reduced.
Also, PR has today, more built road-miles per person than ANY jurisdiction in the entire US.
Sad but true….el Tren Urbano is but a drop in the bucket.
RE: Tren Urbano
I think the puertorican people will get used to the new means of transportation because puertoricans are a community that is always in tune with the future and accepts modernization just like any big city. The problem that I see here is that because the project is already two years behind schedule and over budget (Total cost = 1.67 Billion Dollars) the people have empty their pockets to pay a starting fare of $1.50. Look at this number in another 10 years or another 20 years when the cost of living will increase much faster than at the rate it increases today. This train is mostly created for the businesses and financial institutions within the area. I doubt very much that the regular commuter is taken into consideration here. If the people behind this project were interested in reducing automobile use, thus reducing other factors such as pollution and energy conservation they should take into consideration lowering the usage cost to the customer who will in turn make it work. Yes, I see some traffic reduction but nothing noticeable because it is only 16 stations – its route is 17.2 kilometers long. I say offer the customer a lower fare then there will be enough cash flow to continue building more tracks and possibly cover the entire Island. Now that is the ticket!!! Buena Suerte.
RE: Tren Urbano
On the surface, EL TREN URBANO” appears to be the logical solution to the movement of people in an ever expanding metropolis. However some problems have to be dealt with before it can be a success.
Since the creation of operation bootstap in the 50’s, Puerto Ricans have adopted the urban sprawl mentality of mid-America. Industrialization, the “Los Angelization” and the “Miamization” of the island demanded highways, shopping malls, exact copies of what existed in Florida and California.
Because we are a society with limited resources and living space, the adoption of an American way of life, suited to huge expanses of land, was not to the benefit of future generations. However developers, with the nod of the government, were given a free hand in transforming our tropical environment.
“El Tren Urbano” has come at a time when “San Juaneros” are used to their gas guzzling SUV’s and the convenience of air conditioned shopping malls. We have completely lost the art of “walking” in compact downtown areas like Santurce, thus making a once triving section of the city into a copy of desolate downtown areas of mid-America.
Will El Tren Urbano be a white elephant or a success? The answer will depend on the free flow of oil and the maintenance of stable gas prices for the growing numbers of SUV’s. If gas prices hit the ceiling, maybe then will Puerto Ricans adopt alternative transportation modes.
Government incentives and business initiative
The government has to be proactive in educating and informing the public. A kind of new Operation Bootstrap, perhaps, something called Operation Balance or Operation Common Good or Operation Common Sense or Operation Good Life, on a nationwide scale can alter buying habits which afterall are shaped by advertising. There also has to be clear alternatives to driving.
Driving is impossible in certain parts and at certain hours of the day in the Metropolitan area and it’s not as if we’re driving Coopers, we’re driving Chevy SUV’s! Cars are nolonger a convenience but what choice do we have? Clean public transportation–well planned and thought out. Distributing the labor force and industry to other parts of the island. Halting the overbuilding and overdevelopment of the island. This can be done, but it involves strong government and industry initiatives–not to mention an informed public.
Government incentives and business initiatives that take in LONGTERM VALUE and RETURNS–therein lies the secret to the good life.
Disadvantages
The urban sprawl mentality that Luis Miranda pointed out is a huge disadvantage for el Tren Urbano. The majority of these urban areas were built after WW2, but still have sidewealks as small as in colonial times, many of which are parked-on. There are very few straight streets and avenues, lots of dead-ends, and a highway dependency that cuts through neighborhoods. Plus, the Metropolitan area continues to grow in this fashion, spreading into Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas, Toa Alta, and Vega Baja and the gov’t still encourages people to use their cars by allowing them to park on sidewalks and build large parking-lots near these stations.
As much wishful thinking I can do, the reality is, most Metropolitan residents can’t walk or transport to many of these stations. Nor has much planning been done around these stations to ensure a ridership. This Tren is much needed, but in these current station locations and the current gov’t policies, it won’t do to well.
We need to look for sustainable alternatives
$1.67 billion for a 17km train — does anybody else see a problem with spending close to $100K/meter? Our circumstance is so different to that of the mainland — we’re too densely packed. We need to look at successful and or more cost effective transportation examples than those of Chicago or NYC. We could learn much from studying a city like Curitiba, Brazil. (http://www.dismantle.org/curitiba.htm & http://sol.crest.org/sustainable/curitiba/) The cost for implementing a system similar to this is a fraction of what’s being spent on El Tren Urbano. The versatility (being able to alter bus routs based on demand for example) alone is worth a look. Curitiba is roughly the size of San Juan (about 1.8M people), has similar car ownership rates (1 for every 2.5 people) yet their public transportation system is used for 75% of all trips taken in the city – can you imagine the impact on el area motropolitana if we were able to achieve something similar? We could probably run the busses on BioDiesel (http://www.biodiesel.org/) made from all the oil used to fry up alcapurias in the area..
An alternative
This may come late in the day. But seeing that we are so small, why not create business and cultural centers that are more evenly distributed throughout the island, rather than creating urban concentrations that lead to uneven kinds of development?
As this idea applies to el tren urbano: A re-distribution and re-structuring of work throughout the island would mean networks of centers for work, recreation and living that can be more integrated and would very likely relieve the weight of crime and drugs as well. The tren urbano is just another symptom, in other words, not a solution to the congestion of urban sprawl.
Tren Urbano
In Puerto Rico there’s a car for every two people and over 25% of the island’s population (4 million) live in the San Juan Metropolitan area (1.1 million) where there are over 60% of all the island’s jobs. In the last 50 years cities such as Bayamón have grown in its population seven times over, but sadly, development has gone unchecked.
It’s also a city that struggles to be known and to change, with a $2 billion dollar new electric-train system and a integrated public transportation system similar to NYC and Chicago’s ( http://www.ati.gobierno.pr ) already finished and ready to be opened to the public, people are both pessimistic and optomistic about its future.
Can this tropical metropolis change from a land where the highway is King to a cleaner, more organized city of the future? With a high price tag, the stakes are high. Will people change their ways and realize that this train can work for them, or stick to their cars and wait until further extensions are made, if ever? You decide!
Tren Urbano
You forgot to mention that, today, more than 10,000 cars are sold PER MONTH in PR.
This influx is not being stopped nor being systematically reduced.
Also, PR has today, more built road-miles per person than ANY jurisdiction in the entire US.
Sad but true….el Tren Urbano is but a drop in the bucket.
RE: Tren Urbano
I think the puertorican people will get used to the new means of transportation because puertoricans are a community that is always in tune with the future and accepts modernization just like any big city. The problem that I see here is that because the project is already two years behind schedule and over budget (Total cost = 1.67 Billion Dollars) the people have empty their pockets to pay a starting fare of $1.50. Look at this number in another 10 years or another 20 years when the cost of living will increase much faster than at the rate it increases today. This train is mostly created for the businesses and financial institutions within the area. I doubt very much that the regular commuter is taken into consideration here. If the people behind this project were interested in reducing automobile use, thus reducing other factors such as pollution and energy conservation they should take into consideration lowering the usage cost to the customer who will in turn make it work. Yes, I see some traffic reduction but nothing noticeable because it is only 16 stations – its route is 17.2 kilometers long. I say offer the customer a lower fare then there will be enough cash flow to continue building more tracks and possibly cover the entire Island. Now that is the ticket!!! Buena Suerte.
RE: Tren Urbano
On the surface, EL TREN URBANO” appears to be the logical solution to the movement of people in an ever expanding metropolis. However some problems have to be dealt with before it can be a success.
Since the creation of operation bootstap in the 50’s, Puerto Ricans have adopted the urban sprawl mentality of mid-America. Industrialization, the “Los Angelization” and the “Miamization” of the island demanded highways, shopping malls, exact copies of what existed in Florida and California.
Because we are a society with limited resources and living space, the adoption of an American way of life, suited to huge expanses of land, was not to the benefit of future generations. However developers, with the nod of the government, were given a free hand in transforming our tropical environment.
“El Tren Urbano” has come at a time when “San Juaneros” are used to their gas guzzling SUV’s and the convenience of air conditioned shopping malls. We have completely lost the art of “walking” in compact downtown areas like Santurce, thus making a once triving section of the city into a copy of desolate downtown areas of mid-America.
Will El Tren Urbano be a white elephant or a success? The answer will depend on the free flow of oil and the maintenance of stable gas prices for the growing numbers of SUV’s. If gas prices hit the ceiling, maybe then will Puerto Ricans adopt alternative transportation modes.
Government incentives and business initiative
The government has to be proactive in educating and informing the public. A kind of new Operation Bootstrap, perhaps, something called Operation Balance or Operation Common Good or Operation Common Sense or Operation Good Life, on a nationwide scale can alter buying habits which afterall are shaped by advertising. There also has to be clear alternatives to driving.
Driving is impossible in certain parts and at certain hours of the day in the Metropolitan area and it’s not as if we’re driving Coopers, we’re driving Chevy SUV’s! Cars are nolonger a convenience but what choice do we have? Clean public transportation–well planned and thought out. Distributing the labor force and industry to other parts of the island. Halting the overbuilding and overdevelopment of the island. This can be done, but it involves strong government and industry initiatives–not to mention an informed public.
Government incentives and business initiatives that take in LONGTERM VALUE and RETURNS–therein lies the secret to the good life.
Disadvantages
The urban sprawl mentality that Luis Miranda pointed out is a huge disadvantage for el Tren Urbano. The majority of these urban areas were built after WW2, but still have sidewealks as small as in colonial times, many of which are parked-on. There are very few straight streets and avenues, lots of dead-ends, and a highway dependency that cuts through neighborhoods. Plus, the Metropolitan area continues to grow in this fashion, spreading into Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas, Toa Alta, and Vega Baja and the gov’t still encourages people to use their cars by allowing them to park on sidewalks and build large parking-lots near these stations.
As much wishful thinking I can do, the reality is, most Metropolitan residents can’t walk or transport to many of these stations. Nor has much planning been done around these stations to ensure a ridership. This Tren is much needed, but in these current station locations and the current gov’t policies, it won’t do to well.
We need to look for sustainable alternatives
$1.67 billion for a 17km train — does anybody else see a problem with spending close to $100K/meter? Our circumstance is so different to that of the mainland — we’re too densely packed. We need to look at successful and or more cost effective transportation examples than those of Chicago or NYC. We could learn much from studying a city like Curitiba, Brazil. (http://www.dismantle.org/curitiba.htm & http://sol.crest.org/sustainable/curitiba/) The cost for implementing a system similar to this is a fraction of what’s being spent on El Tren Urbano. The versatility (being able to alter bus routs based on demand for example) alone is worth a look. Curitiba is roughly the size of San Juan (about 1.8M people), has similar car ownership rates (1 for every 2.5 people) yet their public transportation system is used for 75% of all trips taken in the city – can you imagine the impact on el area motropolitana if we were able to achieve something similar? We could probably run the busses on BioDiesel (http://www.biodiesel.org/) made from all the oil used to fry up alcapurias in the area..
An alternative
This may come late in the day. But seeing that we are so small, why not create business and cultural centers that are more evenly distributed throughout the island, rather than creating urban concentrations that lead to uneven kinds of development?
As this idea applies to el tren urbano: A re-distribution and re-structuring of work throughout the island would mean networks of centers for work, recreation and living that can be more integrated and would very likely relieve the weight of crime and drugs as well. The tren urbano is just another symptom, in other words, not a solution to the congestion of urban sprawl.
For an up-date on this topic please go to: http://www.prdream.com/wordpress/?p=463
mr. ovidio perez the real cost os 17 kilometer of rail for the “tren urbano”is $2,400,000,000