Rapid transit buses help the environment

BOGOTA, July 10 (UPI) -- A novel public transportation system called bus rapid transit may hold the key to combating climate change in developing countries, a Colombian economist says.

Enrique Penalosa, a former mayor of Bogota, says the long, segmented, low-emission buses his city installed in 2001 have reduced the use of bus fuel and emissions by more than 59 percent, The New York Times reported Friday.

Called TransMilenio, the Bogota buses resemble an above ground subway system with enclosed stations that are entered through turnstiles.

To create it, the city commandeered two to four traffic lanes in the middle of major boulevards and installed low walls to isolate the system.

Penalosa is now advising other cities on developing low-emission bus transportation.

Versions of Bogota's system are being planned or built in dozens of developing countries around the world from Mexico to Indonesia.

A second successful bus rapid transit line that opened in Mexico City last year has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions, says Lee Schipper, a transportation expert at Stanford University.