What is the biggest drain on the economy? The private auto.

Productivity in Latin America: City limits | The Economist: "Along with land use, transport is the biggest headache facing city authorities. Vehicle ownership is likely to expand by 4% a year over the next 15 years, further clogging the streets. Curitiba stands out as an exception: 54% of journeys there are by public transport. The city’s pioneering bus rapid-transport system has been copied across the region—in Bogotá, Mexico City and Lima. In Bogotá the number of daily public-transport journeys is equal to 75% of the population, whereas in Santiago this number is only 50%.

More is needed. Experience in Europe and Asia shows that public authorities can increase the efficiency of goods distribution in cities by getting private firms to share their lorries. And although metros are expensive, the cost of not having them may soon be even greater."

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Limeños pasan una cuarta parte de su vida en transporte público - Actualidad | Perú 21

Algunas personas pasan más de seis horas diarias en un bus, coaster o combi. (USI)

Limeños pasan una cuarta parte de su vida en transporte público - Actualidad | Perú 21: "Los limeños invierten una cuarta parte de su vida viajando en transporte público, con un gran número de vehículos antiguos y pequeños y una infraestructura vial insuficiente, por lo que se requieren sistemas masivos y eficientes como el metro subterráneo."

True cost of fossil-fuel - death

At least 11 people were killed and more than 80 others were injured Friday when an explosion ripped through a pipeline in western Colombia triggering a deadly inferno. Photo: AFP

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/pipeline-blast-kills-13-20111225-1p9j6.html#ixzz1hYKPahz5

Pipeline blast kills 13: "Thirteen people were confirmed dead and nearly 100 injured in a pipeline explosion in western Colombia, officials said at the end of a two-day recovery mission."

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Cars choking Lima

The Associated Press: Taming Lima's chaotic, poisonous transit system: "Peru's capital is afflicted by an anarchic, corrupt transit system the city's freshman mayor calls a shameful menace. She is promising, against tall odds, to fix it and the traffic chaos that might well lead the region in motorized hostility to pedestrians, cyclists and human lungs.
"I'd say the city is in serious collapse, given the quantity of vehicles, their age and the notorious absence of operating rules," says city councilman Rafael Garcia, a reform advocate."

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Outraged - Chile

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Shareable: People v Cars: The 20th Century Battle over Cities

Shareable: People v Cars: The 20th Century Battle over Cities: "the streets are our public commons, what’s left of it, but most of the time these public avenues are dedicated to the movement of vehicles, mostly privately owned autos"

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Guadalajara se suma a ciudades 'carfree' :: El Informador

Guadalajara se suma a ciudades 'carfree' :: El Informador: "GUADALAJARA, JALISCO (10/SEP/2011).- En Guadalajara se ratifica la Declaración de World Carfree Network, al concluir anoche el X Congreso Internacional Hacia Ciudades Libres de Autos, por lo que la capital jalisciense se suma al llamado para reducir el uso del auto y la disminución de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, así como la búsqueda de estrategias para impulsar ciudades sustentables."

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