The incorporation and enabling of multiple payment methods is one of the advances most demanded by bus users and the Mass System in Bucaramanga and its area, where it is estimated that around a third of the population uses public transportation.
In addition to the 1,200 external points enabled and the more than 130 automatic machines installed in stations, the Medellín Metro implemented a new system since the beginning of 2023 so that passengers can recharge their cards through a digital application, that is, from their cell phones. With a single ticket, the user can access metro lines, trams, bus routes and aerial cable.
Keeping the proportions, a similar system was planned by experts and authorities for the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga, through which the Mass System routes can be fully articulated with the conventional bus routes. However, despite the studies carried out and the roadmaps formulated for its materialization, to date this plan has not been fully consolidated.
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Fabián Fontecha Angulo, an expert engineer in land roads, traffic, mobility and road safety, pointed out that there are three key “pending tasks” to be carried out by the authorities, in order to generate progress and improvements in public transportation.
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“It is time to make real decisions and try what the planning indicates: 1. Integrate the rate through technological means. 2. Decentralize user management, fleet and resource administration. 3. Have multiple means of payment,” warned Fontecha Angulo.
“This was reflected in resolutions”
In August 2023, delegates from the AMB and local urban transportation companies traveled to Barranquilla, with the aim of exchanging knowledge and replicating successful experiences in the Bucaramanga metropolitan area.
In fact, the AMB and the Metropolitan Area of Barranquilla signed an agreement for “the implementation of the Integrated Metropolitan Transportation System (Sitme).” Despite these announcements, and the agreement signed more than a year ago, the progress promised by the authorities is little in terms of improvement and quality of service.
“Last year, two resolutions were issued by the AMB. One of them established the launch of Sitme (Metropolitan Agreement 008 of 2023) and the other (Metropolitan Agreement 006 of 2023) the bases on how the: fleet management and control systems would work; user information; centralized collection; enabling multiple collection points and administration of resources through a trust,” indicated the consulted expert, former deputy director of Transportation of the AMB.
The most recent studies estimate that around a third of the population in the Bucaramanga metropolitan area (31.2%) moves through public transportation: 11.8% in conventional buses, 10.7% in taxis and 5 .4% in the Massive System (Metrolínea).
“What is needed to improve public transportation in the city is to put into practice what is already legally clear. Transporters also have a desire to change, for example, in issues such as the management of resources by a fiduciary and that money is no longer currency, but rather digital or virtual resources,” explained Fontecha Angulo.
AMB reported progress
Now local authorities have the ability to monitor in real time the routes taken by buses authorized to cover public transportation routes in the four municipalities.
The Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga, AMB, implemented a new technology to monitor and control the correct provision of said service, through GPS (Global Positioning System).
According to what was explained by Jhon Fernando Marín, member of the Transportation Subdirectorate of the AMB, a registration and information transmission system was installed in each authorized bus, which allows warning of possible non-compliance or infractions by drivers.
“We monitor the operating conditions of the routes in real time. Thanks to these GPS systems, located in each vehicle, we can verify and control parameters, among which stand out: high speeds, moving vehicles with open doors, route deviations,” Marín explained.
