Análisis de variables espacio territoriales en materia de movilidad sostenible para el sistema de transporte público de San Andrés y Providencia

Abstract

The Colombian Archipelago formed by the islands of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina has had an annual increase in its economic activity of tourism both nationally and internationally, due to its unique coastal environment. This has led the insular department to have an economic development and with it, an increase in the mobility of passengers through the road network for transportation within each of the islands, where most of the trips are made in private vehicles, mainly motorcycles; this is also a consequence of the high deficiencies in the public transportation system, which in addition to being harmful to the environment because it is based on diesel energy, does not meet the needs of demand and supply of the user population. At present, the road infrastructure of the islands is in neglect by the state, even more so since Hurricane Iota, occurred in 2020, which mainly affected Providencia, causing the discontent of the island population and the collapse of its economy. In addition to this, the socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 world pandemic, from which the island has not fully recovered, despite the increase in the statistics of the tourist population registered by the Colombian Civil Aeronautics. The outdated land use plans that provide initial guidelines for the formulation of mobility plans, and where their analysis supports the decisions to be made in terms of territorial planning and development regarding the provision of public passenger transportation system services, today do not correspond to the current needs of the islands, and on the contrary, generate counterproductive and negative effects such as increased traffic accidents, pollution, land use conflicts and improper use of public space. With this, it is evident the need to reform and redesign not only the public transportation system, but also the ideal of mobility in the department, expressing the urgency of planning a mobility under criteria of sustainable development to minimize the adverse effects that the current system brings with it in the social, economic and environmental areas according to the spatial characteristics of the islands. Therefore, it is convenient to analyze the spatial variables applied to sustainable mobility plans to implement a public transportation system that responds to the environmental and social impact of transportation worldwide, in which a balance is required through the use of different modes of collective and individual transportation such as bicycle, tricycle and electric fleet; which contribute with sustainable alternatives in the short, medium and long term, being also encouraged through access facilities, travel times and comfortable fares for all users. It is also important that through this spatial analysis, ways are found to encourage walking in certain places and short routes on the island, especially where there are high percentages of protected areas.