Hi everyone,
This week saw some of our biggest avenidas becoming 2-way thoroughfares between the centre and the outskirts of the city. Head of the Buenos Aires Council, Mauricio Macri, has claimed that 15 minutes have been shaved off some bus journeys; taxi drivers, however, (or at least the ones I've spoken to over the past week) seem to think that there's even more traffic than before.
Do you think it was a good move? Will it do anything to alleviate congestion during rush hour? What do you think should be the long-term plan for controlling the spiralling levels of pollution?
Have a great weekend!
See you all next week.
Steve
I live near Plaza Italia, so I take the bus in Santa Fe almost every day. In my opinion, this wasn’t a completely effective move. Although is true that buses go faster in the avenue, there’re still things to improve. For example, if you go from the centre to the outskirts of the city, just up to where the public transport needs to turn to Santa Fe, in Anchorena street, cars move forward really slow. The main problem is that till there all taxis, buses and cars have to go at Marcelo T. de Alvear street, causing a hideous traffic jam.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, for me that Santa fe became a 2-way thoroughfare is a good move; but for really saving time it will be necessary to transform all the avenues in 2-way, so only cars go in narrower streets. Even more, if we have a good and effective public transport, people will start to take the bus or the subway instead of going in their own cars and in the long-term this can possibly help to reduce or, at least, not to increase the levels of pollution.
Natalia
I can't actually talk about the new move the goverment did of making Av. Santa Fe 2-way, because as it doesn't affect my day to day routine i'm not all that well informed. However, two years ago, Pueyrredon avenue became doble hand, this meant a huge change in my morning: i used to leave my house a 6:50am with the aim of getting to school on time, but with this move I walk out the frontdoor at 7:00am and i get there in only 20 or 30 minutes. In my opinion, it was the best move they could have done to relieve the traffic in Once.
ReplyDeleteSo what i think, in order to ease even more the traffic of Buenos Aires is, as Natalia said, to make all the most important avenues two-way to allow the more narrow streets for car transport only.
Sofia
I agree with you that avenues should become 2-way, and in certain cases they private cars should be forbidden as in Las Heras Avenue that works quite fine. I have known several people who hate coming to the center by car but they have no choice. public trnasport must be improved and also motorways and routes for coming to the center. in my personal experience y pass my weekends in several parts of the coast, san isidro, olivos, san fernando etc. and to get back from san fernando you can choose panamericana or libertador, but for the rest you got to take libertador and at rush hours you can even last 1 hour to drive 30 km. also people would realize that public transport is sometimes faster, as in the same example when i take the train i last 45 minutes for the whole journey.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, all the avenues should become 2-way. Also, the public transport must be safe, puntual, clean and cheap. If it is possible to be more ecological. It will reduce the high level of pollution in the city, and people will prefer public transport rather than their own cars.
ReplyDeleteI live near Sofi and I can't talk about Santa Fé becoming a 2-way thoroughfare either. However, I also experienced the change in Pueyrredón Avenue and I noticed two different situation. While it takes less time going from home to school (the bus takes Pueyrredón at Plaza Once until Paraguay street), it seems that nothing has improved when I come back home. I thing this is due to the fact that many cars use the exclusive lanes for public transport and it ends up in a traffic jam every day.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, what will control the levels of pollution is an effective public transport system, that would make people leave their cars at home and reduce not only the levels of pollution but also the times of movements in the city.
I agree with taxi driver´s opinion, I don´t see any difference. I think green transports should be a solution to reduce pollution levels. Moreover, it would be a good idea to encourage citizens to ride bicycles in order to tackle congestions and reduce local pollution.
ReplyDeleteAna Paula