The new Jaime Roldós Aguilera Station will replace the current bus terminal, above, in 2007 to serve an expected 50 million passengers a year and house the largest commercial space in Ecuador.

A new airport, construction of one of the newest and best designed bus terminals in the region, and Latin America’s most modern transit system form part of plans for an integrated network

ART and parcel of any effective urban planning in the 21st century is public transport, and it has logically formed a crucial element in Mayor Nebot’s overhaul of Guayaquil. The city has begun construction on what will be one of the most modern rapid transit systems in Latin America upon its completion, Metrovía. Completion of the initial stages of the transport system, which included the construction of a 9.4-mile corridor, will be finalized in July of this year with the help of a $60 million loan from the Andean Development Corporation.

Metrovía is comprised of an exclusive elevated transit lane for public buses that can shuttle passengers from the north of the city to the south in just 15 minutes. It is managed by the Integrated Transport System Foundation of Guayaquil (ITSFG), the non-profit private organization founded in 2002 that is responsible for overseeing the project. Metrovía includes 36 elevated pre-boarding stations located at 1,600-foot intervals along its first stage as well as one of the newest and best designed bus terminals in the region, the Jaime Roldós Aguilera Station.

Scheduled for first-quarter 2007 completion, the new terminal will be equipped throughout with security cameras and comfortable waiting areas. The main building, which is being rebuilt from the city’s original terminal, will boast shopping, banking and restaurant facilities, while secondary buildings will house a budget hotel, supermarket, medical center and cinemas. Parking areas for 960 cars will be created outside and additional cargo and office areas will be built in the project’s third stage. When finished, the terminal will represent the largest commercial space in Ecuador and will be self-financing. With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, ITSFG has devised a fairer distribution of fees between passengers, bus owners, commercial space and parking, and will not be forced to raise ticket prices to pay for the construction.

The low number of private vehicle owners adds further significance to an efficient public transportation system.

Along with the city’s new airport, Jaime Roldós Aguilera Station will increase Guayaquil’s ability to handle its ever-rising number of tourists while providing visitors and residents with efficient transport links and the latest in modern facilities. Due to the low number of private vehicle owners in the region, in addition to the absence of a local railway network for passengers, bus travel is the main means of transport for the majority of Guayaquil’s residents and also for those who live in the greater province. As such, it is estimated that 50 million passengers will use Jaime Roldós Aguilera Station annually, a figure that doubles the current number of passengers.

Connecting the airport and the bus terminal will be the city’s modern Metrovía system. While the first stage of the project, which is expected to see 140,000 daily users, will soon be up and running, later stages are planned that include the construction of seven feeder routes on the southern portion of the corridor, and eight on the northern. ITSFG will continue to administer and regulate the transit system but its day-to-day operation will be managed by a private operator.

In addition to the Metrovía system and the construction of the new airport and bus terminal, other projects under the Guayaquil mass urban transit plan now underway are the Pascual-Guayaquil highway and the San Eduardo Hill tunnels. The highway will become the major entrance and exit route for the city to provincial destinations and will be comprised of a new stretch of roadway some six and a half miles in length with two overhead pedestrian passes. The highway, which will also be completed this July, has already prompted new residential construction along its route. Construction began on the San Eduardo Hill tunnels this year. Comprised of two parallel three-lane tunnels, the San Eduardo Hill works are designed to cut down considerably on inner-city congestion and form part of the Metrovía system.