Chile
Santiago
UMR Index Rank
#47
(=)
Score: 41%
Sustainable Mobility
#41
(+3)
Score: 43.3%
Public Transit
#35
(+10)
Score: 49.7%
Technology Adoption
#49
Score: 27.7%
| Population | 7.0 million |
| Surface area (km2) | 838 |
| Population-density (people/km2) | 8,383 |
| GDP per capita ($) | 15,506 |
UMR Index Rank
#47
(=)
Score: 41%
Sustainable Mobility
#41
(+3)
Score: 43.3%
Public Transit
#35
(+10)
Score: 49.7%
Technology Adoption
#49
Score: 27.7%
What Santiago Does Well In Urban Mobility
Santiago promotes active mobility through its National Urban Development National Urban Development Policy, which encourages the use of public space and incentivizes walking and cycling. The city began widening sidewalks, restricting on- street parking, and creating pedestrian-only zones well before the pandemic prompted similar changes around the world. Walking and cycling are the most popular mobility modes. To further improve, the city aims to complete new bike paths by 2025 as part of a national infrastructure plan and has implemented a bike-sharing program called Bike Santiago.
Car ownership levels in Santiago are low. The city has a program that charges car drivers for using roads, and a dense public transit network encourages ridership. Santiago’s subway system opened in 2018 with two lines. It is currently working on a third line scheduled to open in 2026. The city has invested in modernizing and improving its bus network, with a higher percentage of electrified buses in its fleet than in regional peers Lima and Buenos Aires.
Urban Mobility Readiness Index, Sustainable Mobility, Public Transit, and Technology Adoption scores
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley
Challenges And Opportunities For Santiago’s Transportation System
While Santiago has a strong level of electrification in its public bus fleet, it lags behind other Latin American cities such as Bogota and Brasilia in overall electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Despite investments in charging infrastructure and direct EV incentivization, the EV market share in sales remains low, as does the density of charging stations.
Like some of its regional peers, Santiago struggles to enforce road and transport safety. A report showed that 60% of drivers exceeded the speed limit in Santiago’s urban areas in 2020, with no sign of improvement since then. The perceived safety of transport is also low. Harassment on public transit is a recurring issue, especially for women.
Dimensions of the Urban Mobility Readiness Index score
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley
How Santiago Can Improve Its Urban Mobility Performance
The city can improve the strength of its multimodal network. While Santiago provides bicycle storage at certain metro stops, allowing bikes aboard buses and the metro can encourage greater use of public transit, enabling commuters to use their bikes for both the first and last mile of their journey. Investing in buses equipped with bike racks can further support multimodality. Santiago can also extend the hours of its metro, which currently operates an average of 16 hours a day, to increase ridership and encourage multimodal use.
Santiago can do more to encourage the sale of EVs and improve its charging station density. The city can fund additional charging stations by providing incentives for at-home installations and increasing the budget for public charging point installations. Investing in charging stations can also help boost sales, as customers often view a lack of charging stations as a major barrier to purchasing an EV.
Urban Mobility Readiness Index relative ranking evolution (2020-2024)
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley