Digital traces: Mapping Bogotá’s unmapped transit network using smartphones and networked databases

New tools have enabled “civic hackers” and transportation researchers to map previously uncharted transit networks previously confined to the purview of locals and insiders. These new datasets reveal the extent of these systems and their role in providing access to the city. In this paper, we describe the methodology regarding the mapping process of Bogotá’s semi-formal SITP Provisional bus system, accomplished using smartphones, cloud-based data management systems, and GIS software. By visualizing the semi-formal SITP Provisional system alongside the centrally planned bus system, we provide the first complete picture of Bogotá’s transit system. We also develop two types of data analysis based on General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data generated from this mapping process. Using spatial algorithms, we identify parallelism between the semi-formal transit routes and the formal transit network. We then visualize the degree of access to job opportunities that each system provides. We find that integrating semi-formal and formal transit services, that is, the entire network, increases accessibility levels for workers, especially at urban peripheries. Results suggest the importance of considering semi-formal transit services in transportation planning, the services often neglected in the planning process, and the advantages of integrating them into the network to increase accessibility to opportunity areas. We recommend that other cities harness GPS-enabled apps to map transit systems, generate GTFS data, and empower local actors to make use of the data. Based on this bottom-up approach, semi-formal transit networks can provide additional inputs for urban transportation planning processes regarding the transportation user´s accessibility needs.