Transantiago: A tale of two cities

Abstract

The Chilean government decided to modernize Santiago’s entire public transport system, integrating the
underground and the private bus networks based on a structure of trunk and feeder services, and a farepayment
by touchless smart card. The new, integrated transit system, known as Transantiago, very soon
ran into serious problems that alienated much of its user base and significantly lowered the
government’s approval ratings. This paper recounts how Transantiago was planned and designed and
then discusses its evolution after implementation. It concludes with suggestions for the Transantiago
authorities and lessons to be learned from this traumatic process.