Already in its initial phases, the Plan looks to accomplish nothing less than a total overhaul of Santiago's traditional bus system. Among other things, that will mean an eventual phasing out of the city's classic micros (what residents here call the city buses). With an estimated price tag of US$500 million, Plan Transantiago is considered the world's largest and most comprehensive project of its kind.

The city's existing buses, canary-yellow contraptions that circulate in the thousands, are a true Santiago trademark, every bit as much a part of the capital's urban identity as New York City's yellow cabs or London's double-deckers. But they're also, critics have said for years, dangerous, dirty and in some cases quite literally out of control. Until recently, Santiago's nearly 7,000 micros were owned by some 2,500 different companies. That's meant that drivers actually compete with each other for passengers. Jostling for advantage along Santiago's congested streets and boulevards, micros often race at breakneck speeds, routinely cutting each other off and rarely coming to a complete stop when picking up or dropping off riders. The belching behemoths have also been blamed in some part for Santiago's well-recognized air pollution problem.

Plan Transantiago, designed and first implemented under the leadership of former President Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006), has already begun to change all of that. Under the new scheme, ownership of the city's extensive bus fleet has been reduced to just 10 private companies. These companies have also begun introducing brand new buses, easily identifiable not only by their modern electronic route signs, but by the simple fact that they're not yellow.

With no small amount of pomp and circumstance, then President Lagos launched Phase One of the project last October, when nearly 1,200 brand-new green and white buses (half of them 150-passenger "accordion" buses) began circulating within the capital. Larger while at the same time more fuel efficient than their yellow predecessors, the new buses are also equipped with mechanisms that prevent drivers from exceeding speeds of 60 kilometers per hour and from moving their vehicles until all doors are completely closed.

"This marks the beginning of the greatest modernization process of public transportation ever recorded in Chile's history," said Lagos during an Oct. 22, 2005 inauguration event.

Since then over 300 more new buses have been introduced. Owners have also "retired" more than 1,000 old micros. By 2010, Plan Transantiago designers are hoping, the overall number of buses circulating within the capital will be reduced to approximately 4,500.

The next and final phase of the Plan is now set for launch this coming Feb. 10. Unlike the changes introduced up to now, this next phase promises to go well beyond simply mixing in a few new vehicles with the old. To start with, planners have completely redesigned the city's existing bus grid, dividing Santiago into 10 color-coded and lettered (A to J) districts. Certain buses - namely the new green and white ones - will continue to operate along cross-Santiago routes, up and down the city's major thoroughfares. The rest of the city's micros will operate only within their specific districts.

Passengers must also prepare for a new payment system. Up until now, micro drivers have had to double as cahiers, taking money from passengers, making change and handing out tickets, all the while trying to keep one eye on the road as they maneuver in an out of traffic. Starting in February, riders will have to either board buses with exact change or pay their fares using prepaid electronic swipe cards. These new BIP cards, as they're called, will also work on the city's Metro, allowing people to more easily transfer from bus to subway.

But while the Plan's government backers have high hopes it will lessen commute times, improve safety and reduce pollution levels, Plan Transantiago has not been without its critics. In mid-November, just as work began to repave several major downtown streets - soon to be used as bus-only corridors - researchers from Santiago's Universidad Católica (UC) released a scathing assessment of the project. Under the new scheme, passengers are likely to face more transfers, longer commutes and a far-more inconvenient method of payment. The government, furthermore, has so far invested only US$290 million of the US$500 million it originally estimated the project would cost, according to the researchers.

"In order to appropriately address the issue of Transantiago, it is fundamental that we assume we're facing a very probable crisis," the UC report reads.

By Benjamin Witte

Benjamin Witte is a freelance journalist currently working and residing in Santiago, Chile. A former editor of the Santiago Times, he has also worked for newspapers in San José, Costa Rica, Somerville, Massachusetts and in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born in Canada, he did most of his growing up in Berkeley, California. Benjamin first moved to Santiago in 2000 and has been living in Chile on and off since.