ProMOVIS: Promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Mobility in Colombia

Improving the conditions required for the implementation of sustainable urban mobility in Colombia

About ProMOVIS

Like other Latin American countries, Colombia has undergone sub-stantial urbanization in recent years. In 2019, over 81% of the pop-ulation lived in cities. Similarly, the use of motor vehicles has also increased dramatically from 3.5 million vehicles in 2002 to 15.5 mil-lion vehicles in 2020. These trends have led to increased congestion and fatalities in road accidents, in addition to major air pollution. Colombia’s transportation sector contributes to 36% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions derived from energy consump-tion. Specifically, motorcycles account for 58% of the vehicle fleet and are currently the main alternative to public transport. Despite the development of modern BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems, pub-lic transport loses approximately 2% of passenger volume each year in the large cities. Bicycle commuting has increased in recent years following measures promoted by several cities, but remains at a 4-10% share, thus still leaving potential for growth. Similarly, walking is starting to be considered in urban planning as a solution amid rising private vehicle use.
The reduction in the use of mass public transport has been influ-enced by the COVID-19 pandemic, with people avoiding public transport due to higher infection risk leading to an increase in the deficit of public transport operators.

Context

ProMOVIS is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is part of the “German Climate Technology Initiative” (DKTI).
The project seeks to improve the conditions required for the im-plementation of sustainable urban mobility in Colombia. By pro-moting zero- and low-emission transport, the project contributes to implementing the Paris Agreement and achieving the national goals set out in the NDCs, the National Development Plan, and other policies.
The project will pilot sustainable urban mobility measures and strategies in intermediate cities and work together with local gov-ernments to advance on sustainable mobility by avoiding traffic through the promotion of an integrated urban planning approach facilitates the shift to more sustainable means of transport by an integrated planning approach and improve energy efficiency.

ProMOVIS key activities:

Improving guidelines for sustainable urban mobility on national level. This will facilitate the implementation of existing national strategies and promote them at city level.
Strengthen the institutional capabilities of local stakeholders in sustainable mobility and increase public awareness and support for these measures.
Promote training on sustainable urban mobility for practitioners and experts to provide both, public administrations, and private actors with sufficient qualified personnel to implement sustainable urban mobility.
Strengthen coordination mechanisms, sharing of lessons learned and dissemination of good practice in sustainable mobility.