Public transport: Status and research priorities for Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Public transport is essential in advancing sustainable, equitable, and safe mobility. It is the primary transportation mode in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) cities, but it is facing a fast decline in favor of individual motorized modes, especially motorcycles. Improving public transport in LAC cities requires understanding local conditions, such as demographic changes, increase in older population, higher incomes, urban sprawl, environmental deterioration, and prevalent social exclusion. To identify research priorities, we reviewed selected academic papers published in the last ten years in the region and completed a consultation among transport researchers in LAC. The review indicates that researchers in the LAC region have concentrated on researching public transport reforms, on social aspects, like accessibility, equity, and inclusion, on demand, behavior, and user perceptions of public transport, on emissions, externalities, and new technologies. This review suggests that multiple aspects require further analysis to improve quality of public transport services and reduce social, environmental, and financial impacts. We complemented this review with consultation with academics participating in the regional transport research conference PANAM STR. Participants identified key research topics and their priorities. Topics include, in order of importance: valuation of externalities; operating business models; safety; new methods for collecting information in cities lacking data; governance in public transport systems; last mile connectivity; electro-mobility; modal integration, reallocation of road space for sustainable mobility modes; inclusion of informal services; and improving labor conditions for transportation workers. A subjective valuation of the opportunity for these topics (short, medium, long term) and the impact of de-carbonization was provided.