27 - Where does Demand for Public Transport Stand?

Abstract

This chapter explains how changes that have taken place in economics and society over the past twenty years have occurred mainly in large cities, and these changes inevitably affect mobility within the city. A commonplace phenomena that shows up in specialized literature in this field is the decreasing demand for public bus transport services in big cities, both in rich and poor countries. This phenomena also occurs in Buenos Aires, where the number of bus passengers is falling steadily for the first time, although it is the most important public transport network in the city. This issue is the most outstanding fact in a scenario notorious for its low capacity to pronounce, implement and evaluate public policies for this trade. While the public transport market shrinks, the population in big cities does not and nor does its need for mobility. Moreover, in increasingly poor and socially unequal cities, such as Buenos Aires, demand for public transport remains steady and increasing because of the high ownership and maintenance costs of cars. This chapter, which has take the case of Buenos Aires as a subject matter based on the public bus transport, is basically theoretical. Its conceptual context combines input from diverse areas, especially geography, economics and urban sociology.