Photo by Carlos Felipe Pardo.

The Mayor of Lima Susana Villarán agreed to pursue recommendations to improve the city's Metropolitano bus rapid transit (BRT) system, based on a recent study conducted by EMBARQ of the system's demand and financial model.

EMBARQ's technical team presented the Mayor with a two-volume, 593-page report in a meeting on April 3, proposing solutions to improve the operational and financial viability of Metropolitano's Segregated Corridor of High Capacity I (COSAC I).

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Mayor expressed her sincere thanks and announced that she will relaunch the Metropolitano project and reorganize Protransporte, the authority responsible for the Lima BRT. She requested that EMBARQ work with Protransporte to resolve the problems and challenges identified in the study.

The partners agreed that the congestion bottleneck at the Canaval and Moreira Station will be resolved by the end of this year, in order to double the station’s capacity.

The technical team was led by EMBARQ consultant Paulo Custodio, with leadership support from EMBARQ’s Latin America Strategic Director Luis Gutiérrez and EMBARQ Andino Executive Director Jorge Jara. The team also included specialists Garrone Reck, Remi Jeanneret and Elkin Bello, who formulated the technical and financial modeling.

Juan Tapia, executive president of Protransporte, as well as its technical and directive teams, assisted with the study's analysis.

This study was made possible by the generous donation from Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor of the Interbank Group, who, along with his technical team of Carlos Casabonne and Ramon Barua, was present at the meeting with the Mayor. The study also involved collaboration between EMBARQ's Latin America program, EMBARQ Mexico, and EMBARQ Andino.

This project revives a public-private alliance between the Interbank Group and the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (MML) using a tax-funded works model.

"This collaborative experience demonstrates the strength and potential of the EMBARQ network and the Interbank alliance to contribute to sustainable transport and urban development solutions in Peru that are socially inclusive and competitive," said EMBARQ Andino Executive Director Jorge Jara.