Chile’s crowded roads face further congestion

Road congestion is a growing problem in Chile as the country’s vehicle fleet is fast outstripping road capacity. In 15 of the county’s major urban areas, the vehicle fleet is growing 10 times quicker than the rate of road construction.
June 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
RSS

Road congestion is a growing problem in Chile as the country’s vehicle fleet is fast outstripping road capacity. In 15 of the county’s major urban areas, the vehicle fleet is growing 10 times quicker than the rate of road construction.

This finding is based on a study carried out between 2010 and 2015 by the Secretariat for Transportation Planning (SECTRA). The report reveals that total road length in the cities of Iquique-Alto Hospicio, Greater Valparaiso, Greater Santiago, Talca, Linares, Chillan-Chillan, Viejo, Greater Concepcion, Osorno, Puerto Montt, Ancud, Castro, Quellon and Coyhaique grew by 3% from 25,738km in 2010 to 26,446km in 2015. Unfortunately the vehicle fleet in the same cities jumped a massive 34% from over 1.7 million to nearly 2.3 million. Meanwhile the total distance travelled by cars in 2015 was 32,256,266km, an increase of 79.3% from the 17,983,382km in 2010.

Meanwhile there has also been a corresponding drop in the efficiency of public transport. SECTRA suggests that the city authorities need to start building roads, and fast. At the same time, more and better public transport is desperately needed according to SECTRA. Chile’s fast growing vehicle population has been a side effect of its strong economy.

Highway & Network Management

Related Content

  • Peek performance with Sabre
    July 18, 2012
    Peek Traffic’s new ADR SABRE is said by the company to herald a new standard for high performance, portable vehicle counter/classifiers. Described as demonstrating unmatched versatility and accuracy for a wide range of highly effective vehicle traffic studies, SABRE’s features include high speed electronics for outstanding vehicle classification accuracy, and high precision data such as vehicle speed in increments of 0.01 mph. Furthermore, a display screen with four times more capacity combined with a new
    Read More
  • Improved airport for Thimarafushi atoll
    August 29, 2014
    Thimarafushi forms part of the Thaa Atoll lying in the Indian Ocean but access has been limited in the past. However the construction of a new airport planned by the Maldives Government will help develop the tourist trade, boosting the local economy. Most visitors previously used the country’s two international airports, using these as hubs for flights to the country’s six domestic airports. This has limited travel to only a few of the country’s 1,192 islands, of which around 200 are inhabited. As a result,
    Read More
  • Report on cost of US crashes
    March 11, 2016
    A comprehensive analysis of crash statistics in the US reveals the shocking cost of vehicle crashes. The report has been collated by the by the US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and is based on details collated for 2010. The report states that in 2010 there were 32,999 fatalities, 3.9 million injured, and 24 million vehicles damaged following crashes in the US. The economic costs of these crashes totalled US$242 billion. Included in these losses are lost
    Read More
  • ARTBA reports green success in US
    March 1, 2012
    A new report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) says that the US transportation sector has been instrumental in improving the country's environment over the past 40 years.
    Read More

Highlighted Content