Related News

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has approved a US$45mn loan to the Metropolitian Municipality of Lima, Peru, to help finance the first stage of integrated, urban mass transit system.

The programme’s total cost is US$124.4mn, with the World Bank providing US$45mn in cofinancing. Local counterpart funding totals US$34.4mn.

The loan is the first by the IADB to a municipality in Peru. The project will include the construction of 28.6km of dedicated road corridors that will carry extra-long (articulated) buses, 35 bus stops on raised platforms, two intermediate terminals, 50km of feeder roads linking outlying roads to the main terminals from outlying neighbourhoods, cycle paths, environmental enhancements and pedestrian bridges.

The system will carry about 630,000 persons daily, most of them from low-income neighbourhoods, and will unite the northern and southern sections of the city with a rapid-transit corridor. Private concessionaires will operate 250 new, articulated buses, using environmentally friendly propulsion, on the main north-south system as well as 154 buses on the feeder systems.

Investments will be made in an operational control centre, traffic lights, improving the urban environment near the trunk corridor, and the strengthening of the Protransporte, the executing agency under the Lima municipality, and the Municipal Urban Transportation office. Mechanisms will be established to allow the participation of civil society in the implementation of the project.

The project will reduce commuting time, enhance economic competitiveness, decrease traffic congestion, improve road safety and reduce air pollution. It reflects the bank’s strategy for Peru to support investments in public infrastructure with a high social return – in this case easing transportation costs for low-income persons and improving the environment.

The loan is for a 25-year term, with a 4.5-year grace period, at an interest rate based on Libor.