After a year with a few tourist destinations fully open, Holy Week came like the first vacation with countless 100% open destinations, even some with fewer biosafety restrictions.
(This was the plan to return to Bogotá at the end of Holy Week).
In this way, the Colombians decided to travel and exceeded the expectations of the Ministry of Transport.
In the case of land mobility, the entity stipulated that they would present 2,658,498 travelers from the transport terminals, and in reality 2,976,285 passengers were registered.
According to the Superintendent of Transportation, Wilmer Salazar, this mobilization occurred in 298,244 vehicles, which indicates an increase of 50% with 992,335 passengers mobilized in excess, compared to the year 2021 in which 1,983,950 passengers were mobilized.
(Colombia and Peru resume land passenger transport after covid).
“This figure reveals a progressive recovery of our sector, reactivating the economy of the carriers, which results in the provision of a public service with quality, safety and equity,” added Salazar.
Regarding the people who traveled in their vehicles, the Ministry of Transportation set a goal of registering 8,326,792 cars, however, the Transit and Transportation Police reported that on these dates, the mobilization of 9,630,374 vehicles nationwidewhich corresponds to 16.8% more than in 2021, where the figure was 8,244,354 toll vehicles.
“There was an increase of 17%, in the department of Cundinamarca with the mobilization of 2,728,063 vehicles, with an increase of 11%. In Bogotá, 1,452,848 have been mobilized, with an increase of 2%,” said Major General Juan Alberto Libreros, director of Police Transit and Transportation.
Regarding accidents, the National Road Safety Agency (Ansv) held the 25% decrease in fatalities in road accidents between Holy Wednesday and Easter Sunday, according to the preliminary accident figures reported by the Police Traffic and Transport Directorate (Ditra), in which they record that during this period there were 41 deaths from this cause, compared to 55 reported in 2021.
“We send a message of condolence to the relatives of those people who died in the different road accidents that unfortunately occurred during this Holy Week. Although the figures were reduced, we regret these events, which are avoidable,” said Ángela María Orozco, Minister of Transportation, and indicated that they must continue to lower the figures.
AIR MOBILITY
In terms of mobility through the air terminals, the Ministry of Transportation set a projected transfer of 1,437,000 passengers during the Holy Week, however, this figure was surpassed by more than 82,000 travellers.
In total, 1,519,974 people were mobilized, of them, 441,838 did it to and from international destinations, and 1,078,136 from and to national destinations.
These figures show a growth of more than 122% compared to 2021 where the mobilization of 683,314 passengers was presented. In 2019, a total of 1,199,137 passengers were mobilized through the country’s airports.
For the deputy director of Civil Aeronautics, Colonel Rolando Aros, “this has been a historic Easter season for the mobilization of passengers by air, even exceeding pre-pandemic figures.”
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
BRIEFCASE
