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Swiss university to study Asunción's transport situation
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Energy & Infrastructure

Swiss university to study Asunción's transport situation

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Asunción, Paraguay, will be studied by a Swiss university's Sustainable Urban Transitions Lab to improve its mobility system.
  • The research, a collaboration with the local municipality and National University of Asunción, will use scientific evidence to design an efficient system.
  • This initiative aligns with Paraguay's new Public Transport Law and plans for a commuter train, aiming to integrate bus networks with mobility apps.

Asunción is becoming the first South American city to undergo a comprehensive study by the Sustainable Urban Transitions Lab (SUT Lab), a scientific alliance led by ETH Zurich, one of the world's top technical universities. This research aims to provide scientific evidence for designing an efficient mobility system in the Paraguayan capital.

The initiative coincides with significant developments in Asunción's public transport sector, including the new Public Transport Law, bus fleet renovations, and the recent approval of a commuter train project connecting Asunción with Luque. The SUT Lab's investigation will delve into how citizens currently combine the bus network with mobility apps to compensate for the existing system's shortcomings.

The transport system of Asunción is evolving rapidly. Our previous work in Europe demonstrated how powerful it is to combine data from operators and local knowledge to generate scientific evidence for planners.

— Bryan AdeyProfessor Doctor Bryan Adey, a specialist in Infrastructure Management at ETH Zurich, emphasized the value of spatial simulation in understanding Asunción's evolving transport landscape.

Working closely with the Municipality of Asunción and the National University of Asunción (UNA), the SUT Lab will deploy its expertise on the ground. The project's goal is to merge local knowledge with cutting-edge technological tools to map the travel patterns of Asunción's residents. This includes analyzing their routes, schedules, frequencies, and travel durations.

The research will focus on connectivity mapping, identifying peripheral or underserved neighborhoods with limited bus coverage. It will also assess the effectiveness of ride-sharing platforms in bridging the gaps left by traditional public transport. Ultimately, the project seeks to generate simulation models that can inform urban planning and policy decisions. Similar data-driven analysis models have been successfully implemented by the SUT Lab in European cities like Hannover, Seville, and Lisbon.

The capital faces critical mobility challenges as it consolidates as the main hub of the metropolitan area.

— Vicente CapelloVicente Capello, Director of Transport for the Municipality of Asunción, highlighted the city's significant mobility challenges.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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