Cultural transformation of La Paz, Bolivia: a perspective from the development of

means of transport.

The evolution of the transport in the city of La paz, Bolivia will be analyzed, which has
three million of citizens. Although is considered one of the most fundamental cities in this
country since here is where the political scope is located, which have helped the evolution
of the transport, this will be exemplified below.

In 1492 the horses arrived in the city which dragged the floats, the guides had to go to
the side of the horses or mounted on them. In 1825 after the arrival of the Republic to this
country the public transport is incorporated, but still in these times the wagons were driven
by the horses; Between 1909 -1924 ,the municipal council approved the decision to
launch the tram, which objective was to mobilize more population, being electrified and
managed on rails. Medium class or first class wagons shall be moved with a value of 10
and 50 cents respectively. The council approved the buses to exercise a constant
circulation in the city and the wealthy made of theirs to bring their cars to motor.

The arrival in 1924 of motor cars along with horses, buses and trams circulating
through the streets of the city caused a chaos in mobility, although this system was more
attractive, it was also very polluting. This fact created the need to implement a mobility
system regulated by traffic agents that was continuously improving. The inefficiency of
the tram made it expensive and obsolete because it did not cover several routes, since it
depended on an electrical system to operate. In 1951 they were replaced by mini buses,
which expanded the coverage of public transport and improved the conditions for citizens
as it was not possible to stand up.

To improve traffic congestion in the city, the government implemented huge buses in
1980 that could take more people, occupying less space. This unleashed in 1985 the
automotive boom, since there were circulating a great variety of taxis, microbuses and
buses in the city. Currently the government has been developing the cable car, which is
considered the largest in the world, which connects the upper part of the city with the
center and decreases the travel times; it is important to note that it moves two million
people per month.

As a conclusion, is evident that the means of transport in La Paz, Bolivia have been
developing progressively along with the technological and industrial revolution, going
from: horses due to the Spanish revolution, carriages driven by horses, a first approach
to the machinery with the tram that despite of being a solution, it was not efficient enough
to cover all routes, then with the implementation of the buses which at the beginning
generated a change of culture, caused a traffic chaos which made it necessary for the
transit police to regulate it. A collapsed system and the demand for immediate solutions,
led the government today to build a cable car to decongest the streets, reduce time and
be more efficient, which raises the question; How will the means of transport of the future
be?