The ten-day subte strike has brought the city of Buenos Aires to its knees as commuters try to make their way in and through the city of three million residents. More cars are on the road, which just increases the traffic and the delays all around. Tempers are flaring on all sides of the conflict and cooler heads are having a hard time prevailing and the porteños are making do as best they can. Photographers Beatrice Murch and Madeleine Decker bring you a glimpse of the chaos.

Just before 7am today, three lorries crashed in Autopista del Oeste motorway, at Ituzaingó junction, affecting traffic in both directions. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

The National Motorway Administration (DNV) has reported that there are tailbacks of up to 5 km long. One of the lorries was a tanker carrying liquid gas and another was carrying cargo.

A spokesman for DNV said: “After the crash, which left no one injured, two lorries were overturned and completely blocked passage in three lanes, two going towards the capital and another that leads to Lujan.”

He also said that the lanes will be blocked off at least until midday today in order to take necessary preventative safety measures regarding the gas lorry.

The Buenos Aires City Government has launched an online map of the city that provides real-time information on traffic congestion, diversions, accidents, demonstrations, and police operations. The new service even tells you when traffic lights are out of service.

The map was launched yesterday at the Palace of the City Government by cabinet chief, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, minister for modernisation, Andrés Ibarra, and subsecretary for transport, Guillermo Dietrich.

“This system will allow people to see traffic disruptions, which are always a problem, but a problem which is made worse when you are caught off guard” explained Rodríguez Larreta.

From March it is hoped that the system will be available through applications that can be downloaded for your computer or smartphone and, in the future, that the information will be incorporated into GPS devices.

The launching of such a system forms part of a modernisation process for the development of an ‘intelligent city’. The technology will be applied not only to transport, but also to street lighting and the public sphere in the future, with citizens encouraged to play an active role in the updating of information through the system’s Twitter account.

The map can be seen here, and live updates can be received by following the system’s Twitter account.

A new law may be introduced to reduce the number of cars coming into the capital. The bill would use license plate numbers to regulate which cars are allowed to pass through the most congested areas of the city.

The mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, proposes that between Monday and Friday cars with even numbered plates can pass through certain streets and on the other days cars with odd numbered plates can.

Avenues Entre Ríos to Callao, Córdoba, Leandro N. Alem-Paseo Colón and Independencia will be streets included in the new proposal. There are however exceptions to the bill such as “public and private transport, roads used for emergency vehicles, remises, motorcycles and other two wheeled vehicles”.

“This will probably be uncomfortable and unpleasant for some, but certainly beneficial to the people of the city and its infrastructure,” commented Legislator Oscar Zago.

Crashed bus (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

In Argentina, and particularly in Buenos Aires, headlines about road accidents and fatalities are a regular feature in the news. On 15th September, 11 people were killed in Flores after the 76 bus, a tram, and a cement lorry collided. Two days earlier, in the same neighbourhood, a train crashed into a bus that was crossing the railway tracks, killing 11 and injuring 200 people.

Each day in Argentina, 21 people die due to road accidents. It is one of the most dangerous countries in South America for road fatalities, which is the highest cause of death in the country for under 35-year-olds. According to NGO ‘Luchemos por la vida’ (Fight for Life), 12% of these are caused by buses, which, nationwide, transport some 5.8 million passengers each day.

Possible Explanations

Buses in the capital are all owned by various, private companies. This has led to an overlap in the routes the bus lines ply, as each competes for passengers. Alberto José Silveira, the president of ‘Luchemos por la vida’, which was set up with the goal of decreasing Argentine road accidents notes that “On Corrientes avenue, there are maybe eight bus lines. This is too much, if there were only one, it would be better organised with less collisions.”

A demanding schedule, in which bus drivers are given a certain amount of time to complete their route, is another source of risk. The bus drivers often have a timetable to comply to and if they complete routes quicker, they can relax for 15 minutes before going out again. Santiago, a bus driver for line 36 who did not want to give his full name, believes that “the rapid turnaround times are to blame for the speeding. There is so much traffic these days so the routes take longer but we still want a break to have a coffee or smoke”.

A 2008 survey conducted by the Transport Union (UTA) discovered that 88% of bus drivers admitted that to drive to schedule involves driving in an unsafe way. Similarly the long, often 12 hour, days that the bus drivers complete in the city can lead to frustration or drowsiness, either of which can make a driver dangerous.

Speeding bus at night (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

The vehicles themselves are another problem. Bus travel in Buenos Aires has been heavily subsidised by the government since the 2001 economic crisis, accounting now for nearly 70% of every ticket. Although this means that the buses are one of the cheapest in the world, there is often not enough investment or demand for additional safety measures or the modernisation of the vehicles. Mr. Silveira thinks that the subsidies have resulted in “passengers with no right to claim to improve the buses, as they hardly pay for their tickets”.

What to do?

In 2008, the National Road Safety Agency (ANSV) was created to improve road safety throughout Argentina. It received a US$30 million loan from the World Bank to reduce accidents and deaths, commonly performing road checks and reprimanding drivers for drink driving, speeding offences and ignoring red lights. However, according to Mr. Silveira, since its launch, there has been no particular decrease in the number of road accidents.

Jota Leonetti, a journalist and founder of a traffic website believes the ANSV idea is positive but fundamentally people need to change their daily road habits, especially in the capital. “There needs to be much more order, respect and teaching. It is also a social question: many young people die on our roads, which is economically bad for the country too. Driving in Buenos Aires is crazy; the companies owning the bus lines just do what they want”.

Bus lane (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

The federal police assure that there are countless CCTV cameras around the city and when a bus speeds or commits other offences such as crossing red lights, the company gets fined around $300. According to Clarín, last year, bus line 15, for example, received 102 fines; half of these were for ignoring red lights.

However, the enforcement of the fines is questionable, Mr. Silveria stressed that “The police do not ensure that companies pay fines. They often claim they are too busy doing other things, often they accept negotiations with fines”. According to The World Health Organisation 2008 statistics, the reprimand rate for speeding in the country is only 30%.

To improve circulation in Buenos Aires, the city government has set up a lane just for buses in key avenues such as Juan B. Justo, Callao and Sante Fe. Though controversial, it is widely supported by bus drivers as it equates to quicker and safer access. Bus line 39 driver, Arturo Rodríguez, says this is the answer: “with bus-only lanes, there are no motorbikes or other vehicles in the way. The government should install more.”

Other changes are underway. Last year, manual photo cameras began operating in certain parts of the city, able to pull over offending vehicles within minutes of an infraction. As of this April, a line of buses has been set up in Vicente Lopez for the elderly and youngsters, which only allows women to drive them as they are deemed to be safer drivers.

Unfortunately, new measures are too often undermined by a lack of enforcement and false promises.

At the site of the Flores tragedy, for example, there is a sign claiming that the government will install a tunnel for the trains, so the buses wouldn’t have to cross the tracks. The sign has been up for four years, yet still nothing has been done.

Click here to find out what locals think of buses in the capital.

Nearly 1,500 protesters blocked off 9 de Julio for seven hours yesterday demanding changes to “Argentina Trabaja”, a social programme under the direction of the Department of Social Development.

The demonstrators, who represented more than 50 social organisations, were rallying for an increase of $1,000 in the payment its cooperative members receive monthly. If approved, they would receive $2,300, which is equal to Argentina’s minimum wage.

Other demands included new quotas for employees, “real” and “effective” nationalisation of the program, access to land and housing projects, and jobs in the public sector. The protest is said to continue until the governmental department makes concessions.

Alicia Kirchner, who heads the Department of Social Development, said the protests are politically motivated and that they are attempting to influence the upcoming elections.

Two weeks ago, protesters held a demonstration for the same cause, also in 9 de Julio, which held up traffic for eight hours.

On a daily basis, 1,375,000 vehicles enter Buenos Aires, between private cars, public transport and trucks. As a result, transport is responsible for 38% of greenhouse gases in the city, and 90% of the pollution.

The transport system has collapsed. Part of the problem is to do with the shape of the city – the centre of financial and commercial activities are concentrated along the river, meaning the majority of the transport has to cross the city, from 180 degrees, instead of the 360 degrees in a more conventionally shaped city, with the economic heart in the geographic centre.

Lack of maintenance of the vehicles is another issue, leading to less fuel efficiency, thus generating higher emissions.

Buenos Aires is additionally the noisiest city in Latin America, and these high levels of noise add to the air pollution. According to the World Health Organisation, above 70 decibels, sounds are bothersome, and those higher than 90 decibels are damaging. Thirty years ago, the noise level in the streets of Buenos Aires was between 50 and 60 decibels – today the levels are above 70.

There is hope – in 2009 the first eco-bus with a hybrid engine, between running in the city on line 62. Then just last month the Metrobus began to run from Palermo to Liniers, speeding up commutes with an efficient system. And lest we forget, Macri and his ‘Mejor en Bici’ campaign, aiming to get us all on bikes! That said, there is much to be done.

So what can you do?

• Walk! If you live in the city, pretty much everything you could need is within walking distance, and so go out and use it. Supporting local stores rather than driving to a supermarket helps the local economy as well as being better for the environment. So why not get around on your own energy – it is healthier too.
• Use a bicycle. Yes, it’s still a bit scary, but getting better. A few tips: ride on the left-hand side, particularly on bigger roads, as buses pull in on the right and taxis also cruise there, so you will have a less stressful ride on the right; invest in a bell – particularly useful for those who have decided bicisendas are actually the pavement and want to wander leisurely up them with their backs to you. Or learn to holler “es un bicisenda, boludo/a!” To see a map of the bike lanes and where you can safely park your bike, visit www.mejorenbici.com.
• Use public transport. Sounds obvious, but it really does make a difference. And if you are anywhere near a subte, it is by far the fastest way to get around the city. Don’t kid yourself and get a taxi thinking it will be quicker – 99% of the time, it won’t be!
• Don’t use the car for short distances – particularly in the city, where your engine is much less efficient – on average double the amount of fuel is used up than the same distance on the open road.
• If you insist on taking your car, share it! If two people were to share a journey of 15km to work on a daily basis, they would save 1.5 tonnes of CO2 a year, as well as around $180 each on petrol. If nobody in your office lives near you, find someone! Two sites exist: www.viajamosjuntos.com and www.compartocoche.com.ar, and you can save money as well as meeting someone new.

I recently attended a local university’s Urban Competition and Clusters student presentations. A seminar of about twenty engineering students was asked to present their informed opinions on what would make Buenos Aires a more competitive world city.

Firstly, I was pleased to hear that their assignment involved some dreaming because via my current professional experience working for an international engineering consultancy I’ve learned that engineers rightly tend to focus on the immediately feasible. This interests me because in many ways, infrastructure engineers are some of the most forward-thinking of the professional lot; to oversimplify it, they necessarily calculate for future demands and issues of all kinds. Thus, I give immense credit to their professor, who seemed to identify the acute type of shortsightedness that can accompany large public works/urban planning endeavors, which is to say creativity.

Some students took on the challenge to dream and others didn’t as much. But for this exact reason the evening was extraordinarily telling of what future infrastructure planners in Buenos Aires consider the city’s major problems and opportunities. A selection of their thoughts and my thoughts on their thoughts follows.

The one common theme was roads. All five small groups addressed street and highway infrastructure and most of them proposed highway upgrading and widening projects. Clearly, transportation infrastructure needs help in Buenos Aires, but I didn’t see any of the students considering the root causes for congestion, which I believe are as crucial when addressing road capacity. Nor did anyone mention alternative methods for reducing traffic such as congestion pricing or car-pooling initiatives (excluding major public transportation improvements, which were discussed, though briefly).

To me, one group stood out from the rest. Their plan had two major tenets: improving public parks and recreational spaces as well as investing much further in public education on all levels. They argued that both of these initiatives would help build an ‘economy of innovation’ that is currently dragging in Buenos Aires. Without knowing, they hit on one of my favorite urbanists’ (Richard Florida) arguments: the rise of the creative class as a form of economic development. Right on!

There were myriad proposals, ranging from the development of a new cruise ship terminal to green roofs. Though the event had the familiar feeling of a college presentation (intermittently bored and stressed pupils, differently prepared, eager to get their portion out of the way), little did they know I was riveted.

So what would make Buenos Aires a more competitive city according to the local to-be urban planners? Throughout the presentation I saw one common thread: decongestion. I understood that they valued agile built and social environment. Through different lenses, the students talked about the problem the city faces with lack of movement, whether referring to transportation or creative processes. They thought that a more free, open and spacious Buenos Aires would be a better Buenos Aires.

Cheers to the engineering professor who challenged his students! Cheers to the students who accepted the challenge! Let’s hope they graduate and get to work soon.

On Sunday afternoon a car carrying seven passengers collided head-on with a bus, causing three deaths at the scene. Police later found a deadly concoction of alcohol and stimulant drinks in the Volkswagen Gol.

The accident occurred in Merlo, in the Buenos Aires province, towards 7pm. Witnesses revealed that the car was on the wrong side of the road, and travelling at a dangerously high speed.

On impact with the 236 bus, the male driver and two women were thrown from the vehicle, dying instantly. The fourth victim died on the way to hospital. The other three passengers remain hospitalised, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The bus, which had just begun its route, had only one passenger. Along with the driver, he suffered no injuries.

Another driver from the same company, Línea 216, revealed that just moments earlier he had to avoid a “zigzagging” car, which matched the description of the Gol.

Buenos Aires was subject to heavy rain over the weekend which left the roads very wet. Local firemen told how the roads on Route 1003, Merlo were in poor condition.

Argentina continues to have an alarmingly high rate of road deaths. In 2007, there were 28.5 fatalities per 100,000 citizens, and the number for 2008 is thought to be a new record. To illustrate the danger on Argentine roads, the UK has a rate of just 5.4 car accident deaths per 100,000.

Traffic accidents killed 20 people across Argentina during the Semana Santa  of 2007– that’s a single week. This year, the figure rose to 56, according to reports.

Road safety has been an issue since vehicles became available and commercialised in the late 19th century. Since the world’s first reported traffic-related death in 1896, an estimated 25m people have been killed on the roads. Annually, nearly 1.2m people are killed by traffic accidents across the world – about two people every minute. Millions more are injured or disabled.

Road accidents constitute the single leading cause of death globally for those between 10 and 24 years of age.

Too many points on Argentina’s license

Global statistics are not representative however. The roads of poor nations are considerably more dangerous, with between seven and ten times more traffic fatalities than rich countries every year. The so-called ‘highly motorised’ countries account for approximately 60% of global vehicle possession but only about 14% of the global traffic fatalities.

Argentina has a bad record, even by global and Latin American standards. It has approximately five times more traffic-related deaths per year than the US, taking into account any disparity in the number of cars on the road.

Even compared to many Latin American countries, Argentina lags behind when it comes to road safety.  With approximately 2m vehicles on the road daily, central Buenos Aires’s narrow streets, weaving cyclists, cantankerous buses and honking taxis are all a recipe for disaster.

Avenida 9 de Julio is the widest street in the world, but even with 18 lanes, is nevertheless brought to a standstill daily by the huge volume of vehicles all vying for right of way through central Buenos Aires.  This traffic inevitably leads to accidents. On average, one person dies every three days in road accidents in the capital alone.

But Capital Federal is still not the most dangerous area. In fact, it accounted for just over 3% of accidents across the country last year. The majority of accidents take place outside the major urban centres, with Buenos Aires province, Argentina’s most populous province, accounting for almost 40% of all traffic deaths in 2007 with 3,000 fatalities.

But why is the situation so bad? According to Alberto J. Silveira, of Luchemos por la Vida, a non-profit organisation which collects and analyses statistics and runs awareness campaigns, the high traffic-related death rate ‘is the consequence of anarchy in traffic caused by public officials who show no concern, and the indifference of the majority of people’.

Organisations such as Luchemos and the Centre for Road Safety and Investigation are trying to promote a change in attitude in lieu of the apathetic stance of the government.

Seat belt usage, adherence to traffic controls, and alcohol abuse whilst driving are the main targets of their campaign.

Please Fasten Your Seat Belt

In June 1999 Raúl Alfonsín, the president, narrowly escaped with his life after being thrown from his car in the province of Río Negro. He was left in critical condition – the most severe injury out of all the passengers. He was not wearing a seal belt.

A month before this accident, Luchemos ran a campaign with the slogan “Let’s save 1,100 lives by using seat belts.” The figure is their estimate of how many could be saved every year by buckling up.

Seat belt usage has had a slow start in Argentina. According to a study by the World Health Organisation, only 26% of drivers wore seat belts in Buenos Aires, before government legislation made it a priority. In October 2004, under pressure from these glaring statistics, the government introduced the old click-it-or-ticket policy; those caught not wearing a seat belt were fined up to $500. Usage soared to 80%.

Fining is not everyone’s perfect solution though. María Cristina Isoba from Luchemos said: “Ideally we would not use fines but get the people to understand that they should wear the belt for their own safety.”

Taxi drivers, whose livelihoods are at stake, are the worst when it comes to obeying seat belt laws. Often they drive without a fastened seat belt and many taxis do not have seat belts for passengers. But with no incentive to encourage their use or fix the often-broken belts, drivers and passengers remain unprotected.

Bright Lights and Drunken Nights

Red light violations mean even the most conscientious driver is at risk. In the capital, on average every circulating car commits four red light violations every three days, and three violations every hour for each circulating buses. But the authorities are doing very little to discourage them. For every 5,925 violations, only one record is taken.

Similarly, though up to 92% of people in the capital know that “drinking …affects the reflexes needed to drive” (as the survey stipulated), 83% of those surveyed admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Most people are convinced that they will not be punished for traffic violations. As Ms Isoba points out: “A control system is effective as long as almost all of the population are convinced that someone who commits a serious traffic violation will most probably be prosecuted and punished.”

But public authorities deal with the issue inadequately and avoid involving themselves in costly and time-consuming exercises which will not bring them any short-term political gain.

Ambitious Plans for Change

So what is the future for road traffic safety in Argentina? Will the authorities ever wake up to the traffic accidents which are costing them US$10bn a year?

It seems so. This January, the Buenos Aires Civil Chamber saw a claim reduced to half the standard compensation to the family of a traffic accident victim when they found that he was driving without a fastened seat belt.

On 26^th March 2008, the Senate approved an ambitious National Road Safety Plan put forward by the president, Cristina Kirchner. This plan will attempt to unify federal law, and bring about the long-awaited streamlining and coordination of the relevant official bodies.

The plan will entail a full review of the system, from the quality of roads and traffic controls, the education and training of drivers, the security of vehicles from theft and damage to the control and application of sanctions and public campaigns.

It will also include the creation of an independent National Road Safety Agency. This agency will harmonise and regulate the road safety laws, and suggest new measures for the safety of road users across the country.

The new agency’s job will be to centralise the distribution of licenses and examinations of learner drivers. They would also work with the ReNAT, a national archiving agency, to ensure that repeat offences are registered and dealt with appropriately. The plan will also include the establishment of a road police force and safety checks on all vehicles.

If the road safety plan goes ahead, Argentina will see major changes in the quality of its transport system and a massive improvement in the statistics.

Even if the project is not entirely seen through, it shows that organisations like Luchemos por la Vida and the Centre for Road Safety and Investigation are being heard. The issue is becoming part of the national conscience and changing traditional attitudes. Eventually, the politicians will be forced to make the necessary changes.