Una apuesta transformadora. Estudio de la implementación del “Tranvía”, el primer sistema de transporte masivo en la ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

This document addresses a matter of great relevance in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador: project “Tranvía Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca”. It analyzes the urban context of the city in terms of its mobility and projected growth, from which the proposal emerged; the construction process the project underwent; the social and economic impact it had; the purpose for which the project was implemented; and, upon its commissioning, the objectives it has achieved to date, as well as those that remain unmet and the reasons why these goals have yet to be fulfilled. The report compiles and summarizes official documents from the Municipal Government of Cuenca (including contracts, termination agreements with the consortium responsible for the civil works, final reports from citizen oversight groups, and financing data), press articles, interviews with subject matter experts, and preliminary studies of the project. Finally, it presents a comparative analysis of the travel time savings offered by the tram versus the city’s urban bus system, expressed in economic terms. It also quantifies the advantages of the tram as an energy-efficient and sustainable mode of transportation. Additionally, it highlights certain periods of the project's development for which there is a lack of publicly available information, with the aim of encouraging future research.