TRAFFIC IN COLOMBIA

PEDESTRIAN
To a large extent, pedestrians travel along any part of the road, many times due to the
absence of platforms or places that allow them to do so comfortably without exposing
themselves to danger. Others, due to ignorance of the rules. And most of the time due to
simple indiscipline, with arguments such as: eagerness, insecurity or simply what does it
matter
Article 120 of the National Traffic Code (CNT) says that pedestrians in rural areas must
travel on the left side off the pavement or the area designated for vehicle traffic and in
urban perimeters they must do so on sidewalks.
Article 121 of the CNT says that the pedestrian, when crossing a road, will do so by
the shortest line, respecting the traffic signals and making sure that no vehicle
comes that offers danger for the crossing. Within the urban perimeter, the crossing
must be made at the intersections and through the demarcated areas, if any
In article 122 of the CNT it says When the pedestrian has free his way, he has
priority over the vehicles he is going to cross.
ENVIROMENT
Colombia consumes 3.2 billion gallons of fuel per year. Of these, 54% is gasoline and
47% diesel, thus making the fleet responsible for 70% of the pollution generated in the
country, and of that total, between 60% and 70% is generated by the diesel.
“Vehicle emissions can be of two types: due to incomplete burning of fuels or due to
wear of parts such as tires, etc. But the main polluting factor comes from the vehicle's
exhaust. The age of the car and the type of fuel also influence ”. This is stated by
engineer Ismael Schneider, a research professor in the Unicosta Environmental
Engineering Program, explaining that vehicles with diesel engines generate higher
emissions and pollutants, due to the fact that their combustion process is less
complete. This is followed by gasoline, natural gas, and electricity.
According to the Colombian Ministry of the Environment, the useful life of vehicles
that are used as public passenger transport is 20 years. The same time is assigned
to a cargo vehicle. Special transports would have a useful life of 15 years and, in the
case of private vehicles, a number is not specified.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Regarding the quality of the roads, according to figures from the Ministry of Transport in
the 2004, of the total national paved network, 59% was in good condition, the 36% in
fair condition and 5% in poor condition. On the other hand, Colombia is one of the
countries with fewer kilometers of roads per thousand inhabitants, about 3.5, per below
countries such as Brazil (10), Costa Rica (9), Argentina (5.5), Chile (5.2) and Venezuela
(4.1), among others (Cárdenas et al. (2005)). If the calculation is made taking into
account only the paved roads, Colombia does not reach even 1 kilometer for each
thousand inhabitants (0.4). This clearly shows the need to adopt measures that improve
the quantity and quality of the country's current road network. Map 1 shows the route of
the network primary road throughout the entire Colombian territory.
VEHICLE
In general, large cities have complex traffic and congestion problems. It has been
demonstrated that congestion is inherent in cities and that all must endure a condition of
occupation of the roads as long as the income levels allow people to buy private vehicles.
However, "the problem becomes unsustainable when the inhabitants of a city do not have
the possibility of efficient public transport that allows them to make the decision to leave
their car and better use public transport," he said.
Congestion is a phenomenon that must be carefully analyzed, since it is impossible to
separate it from cities with high densities and with payment capacities that allow the
purchase of vehicles. "I consider the motorcycle to be the biggest problem we are
facing and that in the future implies the greatest challenges of traffic control and
access to users"