Case study:

Soacha
Nicolas Torres Zaque

Universidad EAN
Bogota D.C. 
Context

• Soacha is the most populated

municipality in the department of
Cundinamarca in Colombia.
• Its area is 184 km², and covers a
population of 660 179 habitants,
according to DANE data (2018).
• Its current mayor is Juan Carlos
Saldarriaga (2020-2023).
What's the problem
with transportation?
• According to the article "Soacha
ilustrada" by Henry Barbosa, the
problem of transport in the town of
Soacha is not only due to the bad
service provided by most of the
transport companies. But this
problem also has its origin in a
deficient infrastructure, which does
not have sufficient resources for a
proper restructuring.
What's the problem
with transportation?

• As can be seen in the image, the only

road that offers a direct entrance to the
city center is the AUTOSUR SAN
MATEO-VENECIA (Blue Line).

• As it has no other alternative, a large

percentage of the population is forced to
opt for this corridor, making its
congestion inevitable.
Time Line
2013
• Line G of Transmilenio is extended along
the southern highway, with the inauguration
of Phase I, which has 4 stations that will
reach San Mateo.
2015
• Several proposals from the then vice president,
German Vargas Lleras, are beginning to be
heard. However, the government of
Cundinamarca is betting on the implementation
of phase II and III of Transmilenio, which
includes 6 new stations.
Time Line

2015
• For this year, the mobility survey, carried out by
the Secretary of Mobility of Soacha, revealed
that, in this point of Cundinamarca, which
covers 368 neighborhoods, 985,348 daily routes
were made, of which:

  44.911 in bike.
  35.079 in bicycle. 
 33.669 in car.
 9.499 in intermunicipal bus. 
Time Line
2020
• Phase II and III construction process
begins. The contracts have already been
signed by the Ministry of Transport, the
National Railway Company, the
municipality of Soacha and the department
of Cundinamarca.
2022
• It is expected that the work will be
completed in the first half of the year, so
that it will be operational from the second
half of the same year. According to the
Deputy Minister of Transport, Juan Camilo
Ostos Romero, this expansion would
increase the capacity of the system in
Soacha to 400,000 users per day.
Budget 
• For the two phases, a net investment of $931,108 million was made between the Nation, Soacha and
Cundinamarca. The investment was made as follows:
 The municipality will allocate $107,894 million.
 Cundinamarca will contribute $171,653 million.
 The Nation will allocate $651,561 million.
Solutions 
How can they help the affected community?
Solutions

• Construction of major roads that

guarantee the provision of the
transport service.
• To carry out an extension of the
South Highway. According to the
POT, this expansion should
include intersections in strategic
areas, such as Terreos, Unisur
and Conalvidrios.
Solutions 

• On the other hand, although it is important to extend the

southern motorway, it is of the utmost importance to
invest in the renovation of alternative roads, which,
although not as busy as the motorway, are immensely
useful in situations of dense traffic. An example of these
routes can be Avenida Indumil, Avenida San Marón and
Avenida Potrero Grande.
Solutions

• Finally, and in order to eliminate

that road dependency we have
been talking about, it is
important to give more visibility
to new roads such as, for
example, the Avenida
Longitudinal de Occidente
(ALO), the Avenida Cuidad de
Cali and the Avenida Circunvalar
del Oriente.
References 

• Daniela Pardo Jiménez, Angela Villar Ospina & Álvaro Quitian. (2015). Falencias en el trasporte en Soacha. Soacha, Colombia:
Universidad Minuto de Dios.
• EL TIEMPO. (2019). Obras de fases 2 y 3 de Transmilenio en Soacha comenzarán en 2020. 16/11/2020, de Bogotá Sitio web:
https://www.eltiempo.com/bogota/fases-2-y-3-de-transmilenio-en-soacha-aumentaran-la-capacidad-del-sistema-444606
• EL TIEMPO. (2018). La pesadilla de transportarse desde Soacha hasta Bogotá. 16/11/2020, de Bogota Sitio web:
https://www.eltiempo.com/bogota/problemas-de-movilidad-para-transportarse-desde-soacha-hasta-bogota-189124
• Wikipedia. (2020). Soacha: Transportes y vias. 16/11/2020, de Wikimedia Sitio web:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soacha#Transporte_y_v%C3%ADas
• Hernando Lozada Isaza. (2020). Soacha: Plan de ordenamiento territorial. Soacha, Colombia: Sociedad geográfica de Colombia.
• Consejo Municipal de Soacha. (2020). TEXTO DEFINITIVO DEL PROYECTO DE ACUERDO POR MEDIO DEL CUAL SE
APRUEBA EL POT DEL MUNICIPIO DE SOACHA CON FUNDAMENTO EN LA LEY 388 DE 1997, SU DECRETO
REGLAMENTARIO 879 DE 1998.. Soacha, Colombia: Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca.