Cost and Benefit Analysis of Bogotá Metro: Using London's Experience with Crossrail

In the last 60 years different efforts have been made for the construction of a metro system in Bogotá the capital of Colombia. The closer the city has got to building a large transport project was with the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System in 1999 called Transmilenio. This BRT system helped organize the chaotic transport system of the city, but it is currently suffering from capacity and operational problems and the need for a rail base system is evident. Bogotá and London are two cities with similar characteristics such as population, area, density and type of soil. Furthermore both cities are in the process of building a new mass transport system; in Bogotá the first line of the metro and in London Crossrail. Based on these similarities the aim of this project was to construct a practical analytical tool for decision makers to consider the direct income and costs of the metro project and key social and economic benefits that involve the user and non-users of the transport system. Three different scenarios and seven sensitivity tests indicate the project is feasible, it should be constructed, and will bring benefits for the Colombian society.