Traffic congestion in Buenos Aires: diagnosis and public policy recommendations for a more sustainable city

Abstract

In recent decades, traffic congestion has had a central place on the transportation agenda in the City of Buenos Aires. Despite imposing works that benefited -in the short term- the traffic flow, traffic jams are persistent, and the phenomenon has even spread beyond the city center, reaching different points of the suburbs. The mere fact of traveling with a telephone throughout a city generates endless data that can be collected and analyzed to make investment or public policy decisions. In this work, the cost represented by the existence of congestion in Buenos Aires will be estimated and studied through a characterization approach of the variables, thoroughly investigating its causes and its consequences using programming tools and emphasizing the importance of Big Data in building a more sustainable city. Tentative public policies will also be proposed to mitigate the effects of congestion in the city, based on the data observed in the first instance and considering the new paradigm of smart cities, ecological infrastructure, and empowerment of public transport.