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.
