By Megan Ingram-Jones, Jr. Editor and Thomas Jérémie Hayden-Lefebvre, Editor-in-Chief, Green Mobility Magazine.
Chile is paving the way for greener, sustainable transport in Latin America, and its capital, Santiago, is the star of the transformation. With its efficient metro systems, growing fleet of electric buses and cycling infrastructure, the country is making impressive strides in proving that forward-thinking cities are the way forward. I sat down with the Chilean Minister of Transport and Communications, Juan Carlos Muñoz Abogabir, to discuss Chile’s current progress and his country’s presidency over this year’s International Transport Forum (ITF).
It was during his undergraduate degree in transport engineering that Muñoz first realised how important it is for cities to have good public transport. “They are decisive in terms of the quality of service received by people that don’t have any alternative and, therefore, people we need to serve the most,” he tells me. “But also, for cities, because if we all decide to take the car, cities will be very miserable.”
He explains that the most significant issues cities face today are the dual struggles to decarbonise and the land use requirements of cars in urban environments. The solutions to these challenges are, evidently, complex. However, the minister steadfastly believes that by promoting more sustainable modes of transportation, such as public transportation, or non-motorised mobility, such as bicycles, cities can overcome these challenges to benefit their citizens.
“Since then, I realised how important it is for cities to have good public transport…”
Chile’s Minister of Transport and Communications is uniquely suited for his role. Muñoz has an extensive background in civil-industrial engineering and a vast knowledge of the industry. With 27 years in research, his work has spanned critical areas such as transportation operations, logistics and vehicular traffic theory, and public transportation systems.
A leading authority in transport and sustainability, Juan Carlos Muñoz Abogabir has combined academic expertise with policy-driven impact for over 25 years. His tenure at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC) began in 1995, later overseeing the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development and the Institute for Sustainable Development. His policy influence emerged in 2003–2004 when he advised then-Minister Javier Etcheberry on Transantiago’s restructuring—one of Chile’s most significant public transport reforms. In 2008, his technical expertise was further recognised when he joined the committee of experts shaping national transport policy.
Although a renowned expert in Chilean mobility circles, Muñoz’s ascendence to Cabinet was unplanned. He explains to me, “In the previous government, I was asked on several occasions by ministers to either take a board’s position on railway services like the Metro de Santiago, and in some cases, the administrator would ask me to play an advisory role.” The requests were always on an advisory or directorial level until 2022, when President Borich asked him to take up his current position of Minister of Transport and Communications.
His years leading different academic institutions gave him the expertise to lead interdisciplinary teams. “Now I have to be in charge of our ministry, which has a very important responsibility that is spread all over the country,” he continues. “And I feel very proud because of the impact we have on the daily lives of the people in our country.”
As the door to the Pacific for the countries in the south of the continent, improvements to Chile’s maritime connections are continually needed. Approximately 95% of the country’s imports and exports are transported by sea, placing significant emphasis on its port cities. Muñoz specifies, “We are also planning important modernisations and investments to increase the capacity of the country’s maritime connections.” These improvements include expanding the ports through the Puerto Exterior Expansion project, identifying the Outer Port in San Antonio and Terminal 2 of the Port of Valparaiso as the most crucial projects. The expansion aims to provide additional capacity through two large berthing fronts, each approximately 1.5 kilometres long, with a transfer capacity of around three million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), the standard measure used to quantify container cargo capacity in ports and shipping.
The country’s transportation plans extend beyond its metro and ports. Muñoz reveals the country’s plans to renew its railways, which were essentially abandoned in the 90s. “We’re recovering some of those services, and we’re very happy with the reaction of people in Chile; everyone is eager to see trains moving again,” he shares. It’s not only passenger trains that are being improved upon, but cargo trains, moving goods from the ports to the rest of the country, especially the more rural regions.
Yet, the minister is, arguably, most proud of his country’s enviable electric bus fleet. “The largest electric bus fleet of the world outside of China,” he emphasises. “You won’t find any city in the world outside of China with more electric buses than Santiago.” Santiago currently has approximately 2500 electric buses operating in the city alone, and the government has just finished a bidding process, in which approximately 1200 more buses will be added by the end of 2025. He puts this impressive development down to the decision to start early in piloting battery electric bus technology.
Having proven the efficacy of electric buses in the country’s capital, the minister’s efforts are now on how the country can move this investment to other cities that are in need of better transport. The solution? The ministry has made moves to expand its electric buses to other cities, something that Muñoz is very proud of. In 2024, this initiative saw the introduction of 42 electric buses in the Greater La Serena area, strengthening transport links between the densely populated areas of La Serena and Coquimbo. The project includes two dedicated electric bus routes, improving connectivity between El Llano and Sindempart in Coquimbo and Las Compañías in La Serena.
With so many improvements to be made, the question of investments is inevitable. I asked the minister if the government sought to attract private, international or domestic finance and how they were paying for the transition towards electric buses or EVs. For Chile, expecting the people to fund the transformation is out of the question. “People that use public transport are low income; it’s difficult for them to pay, let’s say, a two- or three-dollar fare for their daily trips,” he tells me. The answer, the minister says, is an agreement that public transport needs to receive subsidies.
“It’s an investment in a better city. It’s an investment in better quality of service.”
It’s a complicated topic, especially when subsidies are often considered a waste. Yet, in Chile, Muñoz explains, “For every peso that is collected through fares, approximately two other pesos come from subsidies, and that, of course, provides a larger resource that allows us to keep on building a metro or buying and renewing towards electricity.” These substantial public investments have also allowed the department to incorporate new features, such as its mobile app, which allows users to pay through QR codes. Additionally, to incentivise ridership, Santiago has instilled a unique policy whereby users’ public transport costs are capped at 48 trips per month, and any additional trips are provided to the user free of charge. The city currently has an estimated 30,000 people using the app, and Muñoz believes this is an essential element that has enormously improved the quality of service.
As for where the subsidies come from, Muñoz tells me the central government allocates a budget to the Ministry of Transport, who then passes on the subsidies to the publicly-owned and operated Santiago metro, and the private bus operators who hold a contract with the government. Through those contracts, they manage the payment for every kilometre they travel or for every passenger onboard. It’s an expensive operation and a challenge to the modernisation of the region. “That’s why the law we passed this year on subsidies for public transport forces the government [to ensure] that for every peso put into Santiago, another peso has to be placed for the regions as a whole,” he clarifies. “That has given us some financial room to bring electric buses and modernisation, ticketing and stronger regulations to public transport in each of the cities.”
There is much to be proud of. Chile, despite its unique and challenging geography, is a regional leader in sustainable urban mobility. Indeed, the country boasts a modern and partially autonomous 149-kilometre metro network integrated into a multimodal and single-fare public transport system.
As the door to the Pacific for the countries in the south of the continent, improvements to Chile’s maritime connections are continually needed. Approximately 95% of the country’s imports and exports are transported by sea, placing significant emphasis on its port cities. Muñoz specifies, “We are also planning important modernisations and investments to increase the capacity of the country’s maritime connections.” These improvements include expanding the ports through the Puerto Exterior Expansion project, identifying the Outer Port in San Antonio and Terminal 2 of the Port of Valparaiso as the most crucial projects. The expansion aims to provide additional capacity through two large berthing fronts, each approximately 1.5 kilometres long, with a transfer capacity of around three million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), the standard measure used to quantify container cargo capacity in ports and shipping.
The country’s transportation plans extend beyond its metro and ports. Muñoz reveals the country’s plans to renew its railways, which were essentially abandoned in the 90s. “We’re recovering some of those services, and we’re very happy with the reaction of people in Chile; everyone is eager to see trains moving again,” he shares. It’s not only passenger trains that are being improved upon, but cargo trains, moving goods from the ports to the rest of the country, especially the more rural regions.
Yet, the minister is, arguably, most proud of his country’s enviable electric bus fleet. “The largest electric bus fleet of the world outside of China,” he emphasises. “You won’t find any city in the world outside of China with more electric buses than Santiago.” Santiago currently has approximately 2500 electric buses operating in the city alone, and the government has just finished a bidding process, in which approximately 1200 more buses will be added by the end of 2025. He puts this impressive development down to the decision to start early in piloting battery electric bus technology.
Having proven the efficacy of electric buses in the country’s capital, the minister’s efforts are now on how the country can move this investment to other cities that are in need of better transport. The solution? The ministry has made moves to expand its electric buses to other cities, something that Muñoz is very proud of. In 2024, this initiative saw the introduction of 42 electric buses in the Greater La Serena area, strengthening transport links between the densely populated areas of La Serena and Coquimbo. The project includes two dedicated electric bus routes, improving connectivity between El Llano and Sindempart in Coquimbo and Las Compañías in La Serena.
With so many improvements to be made, the question of investments is inevitable. I asked the minister if the government sought to attract private, international or domestic finance and how they were paying for the transition towards electric buses or EVs. For Chile, expecting the people to fund the transformation is out of the question. “People that use public transport are low income; it’s difficult for them to pay, let’s say, a two- or three-dollar fare for their daily trips,” he tells me. The answer, the minister says, is an agreement that public transport needs to receive subsidies.
“It’s an investment in a better city. It’s an investment in better quality of service.”
It’s a complicated topic, especially when subsidies are often considered a waste. Yet, in Chile, Muñoz explains, “For every peso that is collected through fares, approximately two other pesos come from subsidies, and that, of course, provides a larger resource that allows us to keep on building a metro or buying and renewing towards electricity.” These substantial public investments have also allowed the department to incorporate new features, such as its mobile app, which allows users to pay through QR codes. Additionally, to incentivise ridership, Santiago has instilled a unique policy whereby users’ public transport costs are capped at 48 trips per month, and any additional trips are provided to the user free of charge. The city currently has an estimated 30,000 people using the app, and Muñoz believes this is an essential element that has enormously improved the quality of service.
As for where the subsidies come from, Muñoz tells me the central government allocates a budget to the Ministry of Transport, who then passes on the subsidies to the publicly-owned and operated Santiago metro, and the private bus operators who hold a contract with the government. Through those contracts, they manage the payment for every kilometre they travel or for every passenger onboard. It’s an expensive operation and a challenge to the modernisation of the region. “That’s why the law we passed this year on subsidies for public transport forces the government [to ensure] that for every peso put into Santiago, another peso has to be placed for the regions as a whole,” he clarifies. “That has given us some financial room to bring electric buses and modernisation, ticketing and stronger regulations to public transport in each of the cities.”
Navigating Global Shocks and Future Disruptions
This year’s ITF focuses on resilience to global shocks and ensuring the continuity of transport systems amidst current and future disruptions. Natural disasters have resulted in transport disturbances all over the world, and this isn’t any different for Chile. “We are a country of catastrophes,” observes Muñoz.
These catastrophes have already impacted the transport network in the country. After inaugurating the fastest train in South America, which reached 160 kilometres per hour, a vast flood caused six bridges to collapse. Muñoz presses on the urgency of how events that were supposed to happen once in a century may now occur once in a decade. From floods to fires, seasonal weather patterns are proving to be detrimental to infrastructure, and the government is attempting to build a network of transport that can not only withstand the effects but also allow speedier evacuations.
The typical response to an earthquake in the country is to continue as usual once they are over. “But those earthquakes very often come with tsunamis,” he tells me. “And those tsunamis are again very strong and very damaging, especially for people living in the lower sides of the coast.”
“The global climate crisis provides several opportunities to make our cities better.”
As for where global cities go from here, Muñoz sees two questions: “How do we build infrastructure that is more resilient? How do we build a culture in which those we know how to react to the fires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and so on?”
Inviting cities to reduce their car use, promote non-motorised transport and encourage public transport use should be an obligation, according to Muñoz. In the race towards decarbonisation, Chile is making sure they aren’t putting all their efforts into electromobility but diversifying for a wider impact. “I think we should step back and ask how we can promote transport modes that are more efficient,” he tells me. “How do we structure cities in which people have to travel less kilometres to reach their work or studies?”
Sustainable travel is a hot topic and finding the investments to fund change is a difficult topic to approach. For Muñoz, it all starts with the leaders. “All authorities should be using public transport or biking or walking daily so that the invitation becomes more compelling,” he says. It’s a simple message, if we want to promote sustainable transport, we should start by using it ourselves.
About the authors
Thomas Jérémie Hayden-Lefebvre is the Founder and Editor of the Green Mobility Magazine, an award-winning multimedia organisation that delivers authoritative and original insights on the nexus between transportation and sustainability. He established the Green Mobility Magazine in 2021, driven by his passion for tackling one of the world’s most pressing challenges, transport decarbonisation, through media and collaboration.
Outside of his journalistic endeavours, Thomas advises clients on their sustainability communications & EU advocacy, and is a strong proponent of visually-led “policy comms”.
Thomas lives in France and speaks English, French, and a bit of Portuguese.
