“We believe that, with the push from public resources and funds, electric mobility will become our main tool for modernization,” says Viviana Tobón Jaramillo, technical director of public transport at Medellín City Hall, in an interview with Mobility Portal Latin America.
This statement highlights the vision of Mayor Federico Andrés Gutiérrez Zuluaga‘s recent administration, who took office in early 2024.
In the equation, the need for public funds to acquire electric buses is one of the main barriers slowing the energy transition.
“Our intention is to implement a stabilization fund that will enable the acquisition of public fleets, which will then be handed over to private operators,” Tobón Jaramillo states, directly addressing the funding dilemma.
This approach, expected to be ready by the end of the year, seeks to break what she describes as a “vicious circle“, where the lack of financial resources limits the city’s ability to modernize its fleet, in turn preventing emissions reductions and service improvements.
“The goal is for the fund to be established and, in the first half of next year, to begin implementing revenue sources,” she explains regarding the next steps.
What do we mean by Fare Stabilisation Fund?
First and foremost, it is an initiative that seeks to break the cycle of reliance on public funds and user fares, which have historically limited the development of public transport in the city.
Traditionally, public funds in Medellín have been allocated to mass transport, leaving collective – or conventional – public transport without additional support for its development, despite this sector serving 50% of the demand.
“Public transport has never had additional resources beyond fares for its projects, not even public funds,” she notes.
With this new fund, the City Hall seeks to generate resources not only from public funds but also from alternative sources.
These alternative sources include contributions from those who directly or indirectly benefit from the public transport system or generate negative externalities, such as pollution.
Among the options being explored are congestion charges and a surcharge on public parking fees.
Although Colombian cities cannot create taxes on their own, Law 2294 provides instruments that Medellín is using to implement these revenue sources.
“We are working on the technical structuring of both the fund and the first revenue sources. We hope to have significant progress by the end of this year,” she emphasizes.
Faced with the obstacles, the public transport director does not hesitate to point out that the beliefs surrounding mobility are one of them.
“It is a very Latin American, and I would even say American, mentality to think that transport is not a public service. We believe that everyone should fend for themselves, without the culture of investing public funds in transport,” she elaborates.
Additionally, the reliance on standardized Chinese vehicles, which are not always well-suited to local characteristics, such as Medellín’s steep hills and narrow streets, is another significant challenge.
“Vehicles that are not well adapted can suffer damage, which worsens the situation. That’s why it would be very interesting to explore the possibility of harmonizing, for example, having a chassis of an imported vehicle but with a different bodywork that better suits the specific environment of our city,” Tobón Jaramillo suggests.
The lack of a strong regulatory framework and adequate financing schemes for electric buses represents a stumbling block in Colombia’s energy transition.
