How traffic demand management can improve access, equity, and jobs in transit-oriented cities

Cities around the world are grappling with how to expand access to jobs and services while reducing congestion, lowering emissions, and building transport systems that are both affordable and fair. As cities grow, congestion often worsens. Longer travel distances combine with rising purchasing power, resulting in rapid motorization and competition for limited road space. These trends often undermine productivity, air quality, and quality of life.

As cities search for ways to manage congestion while expanding opportunity, Bogotá, Colombia’s approach demonstrates how combining transit-oriented development with complementary traffic demand management (TDM) makes the most of data, technology, and international knowledge.

Complementing vehicle use restrictions with modern traffic demand management tools

As travel demand in Bogota has grown, reliance on private vehicles (mainly two-wheelers) has intensified. This trend has worsened road safety outcomes and threatens the efficiency of the city’s transport system, making access to employment more unreliable, especially for lower-income households.

To address these pressures, Bogotá is complementing decades-long investments in mass transit with modern TDM tools that encourage more efficient use of road space while supporting cleaner, more equitable mobility. Building on an existing license plate-based vehicle use restriction, Bogota is introducing congestion charging and externality-based fees. These fees are then reinvested into the city’s multimodal public transport system that includes the famous Transmilenio Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and new metro rail development.

Key lessons from Bogotá for cities worldwide

Start with data and analysis. Cities that successfully implemented TDM had strong analytical foundations before moving to implementation. With support from the World Bank, Bogotá’s Secretariat of Mobility carried out a structured, data-driven assessment to explore how different TDM instruments could work in the city, and which design choices matter most for equity, effectiveness, road safety, and public acceptance.

Adapt global experience to local realities. This analytical work was supported by the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF) and informed by insights from Seoul Metropolitan transport experts who were experienced in implementing large-scale intelligent transport systems and congestion management policies. They drew lessons from international experiences across a range of cities that have implemented congestion charging and related policies, including London, Singapore, Milan, Stockholm and New York City.

Invest in institutions and capacity. Technology alone is not enough; long-term success depends on governance, skills, and public trust.

Link mobility to jobs and growth. A well-designed TDM supports a transit-first transportation system to provide better, safer, and more equitable access to jobs and economic opportunities. Congestion imposes real costs on cities by increasing travel times, traffic-related deaths and injuries, reducing labor market accessibility, and lowering productivity for workers and firms alike. For lower-income households, unreliable or costly travel can be both risky and a barrier to employment altogether. By managing road use more efficiently, TDM can: improve the safety and reliability of commutes; support faster and more predictable access to employment centers; reduce economic losses associated with congestion and crashes; generate sustainable revenues that can be reinvested in public transport, active mobility, and street improvements; and create new jobs linked to system operation, maintenance, data analytics, and technology deployment.

Next steps for Bogota’s TDM systems

As Bogotá moves from analysis toward implementation of its next-generation TDM, global knowledge exchange plays an important role in translating technical concepts into operational choices.

Key areas of work include: designing smart enforcement systems using automated detection and integrated control platforms; developing options for payment, registration, and permit management that minimize administrative burdens; establishing data frameworks to monitor traffic conditions and refine pricing schemes over time; integrating TDM systems with existing traffic management, road safety strategies and public transport infrastructure; exploring how enforcement technologies can also support road safety-aligned priorities such as bus lane protection, illegal parking management and pedestrian protection; and designing communications strategies to build public understanding and compliance. Capacity building is at the heart of the process, ensuring that Bogotá’s public institutions and private concessionaires can operate, monitor, and continuously adapt TDM systems as travel demand and policy goals evolve.

Source : World Bank