Parking Facts

By Andrew Dier

Bogotá has become a city where driving requires nerves of steel and increasingly deep pockets. From high prices at the pump, to thirdparty insurance (SOAT) -despite the fact that one’s car remains parked almost three months out of the year due to licence plate restrictions – there is another cost of going out these days that often catches you and your wallet by surprise: Parking.

New regulations have made it obligatory for parking lots in the city to charge by the minute. Not unlike the “minute” vendors who ply their trade with cellphones, the 1,268 registered parking lots in the city are obliged to charge no more than 87 pesos per minute, sales tax included (IVA). This makes for not only complicated mathematics, but unfair play by many operators.

According to a recent study in El Tiempo, more than half of the city’s parking lots are not complying with Mayor’s decree, passed into law earlier this year. The districts where registered parking lots can charge 87 pesos a minute are: Usaquén, Suba, Chapinero, Teusaquillo, Santa Fe, Candelaria and the area surrounding El Dorado International airport. So next time you head over to the Parque 93 for a quick stroll and an ice cream, it’s going to put you out for 60 minutes flat another $5,250 pesos. So please make you seconds count.

Inspiring Athletes

By Andrew Dier

Last month over 700 athletes from across the Americas converged on Bogotá to compete in the 2nd Youth Para Pan American Games.

During one week, young athletes participated in swimming, track and field, wheelchair basketball, soccer, goalball, judo, weightlifting, tennis and table tennis. Despite their physical limitations – such as cerebal palsy, blindness, paraplegia– these athletes excelled at their sports.

The city and the department of Cundinamarca are planning to use existing train corridors to the municipalities of Facatativá, Chia, Zipaquirá and Tocancipá to construct a commuter system that will interconnect with TransMilenio and the metro. The first line from Facatativá is projected to begin service in 2012.

If you didn’t know about this extraordinary event it’s probably because there was very little in the local media about this international sporting event. The stands were mostly empty, with only Inspiring Athletes a handful of supportive family members and friends- some from countries as far away as the United States, Mexico and Brazil who had come all the way to Bogotá just to cheer on their teams.

We would like to congratulate all the athletes who participated for their accomplishments, especially the over one hundred members of the Colombian team and the teams from Brazil, Mexico and Argentina that excelled at the medals table. You have inspired us.

Results and information on the Games: juvenilesipcamerica.org Comité Paralímpico Colombiano: www.cpccolombia.org