170
M. Audouin and M. Finger
drivers also got a fixed salary, independent of the number of passengers transported,
announcing the end of the “penny war” on the SITP network.
However, the implementation of the “Tu Llave” card did not happen as smoothly
as planned. Indeed Recaudo Bogota and Angelcom, for which the blue and red
smart cards were still in place on the TransMilenio network, had not reached any
agreement. Hence, while the “Tu Llave” card was accepted on all newly regulated
bus routes, it remained unaccepted at most TransMilenio bus stations. Recaudo and
Angelcom finally reached an agreement in 2013 where Recaudo was to pay for the
upgrade of all the TransMilenio card readers to make them “Tu Llave” compatible
(El Espectador 2014). Since September 2015, both cards provided by Recaudo and
Angelcom are accepted on the whole TransMilenio network. “Tu Llave” card users
are thus able to access SITP buses (including TransMilenio) and Bogotá Metro,
as well as to freely transfer between those. Currently, the “Tu Llave” card is used
(and has to be used, as it is the only mean of payment) in all SITP buses and BRT
system. The average numbers of daily transactions, including validations, recharge
and transfer, processed by the “Tu Llave” card is around 7 million. In 2015, during
the Korea–Colombia business forum, the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos,
recognized the significant role LG CNS played in the development of the Bogotá
transportation system (Business Korea 2015). However, it was estimated at the time
this paper was written that approximately 2500 buses in Bogota were still operating
as unregulated, thus outside of the SITP, and that Bogota’s City Hall was continuously
fighting to regulate them, to ultimately have the SITP cover the entire Bogota public
transport system.
14.4 Analysis
Because these two cases deal with the introduction of the same technological innovation (smart transportation card) by the same technological actor (LG CNS), they can
provide a good basis for comparative analysis. The following analysis is based on
the alignment (sometimes referred to as coherence) framework from the co-evolution
between institutions and technology literature (Finger et al. 2015). The framework
acknowledges that infrastructure systems are “co-evolving” as a result of evolution
in technologies on the one hand and in institutions on the other hand (Finger et al.
2010), where institutions must be understood as “the rules of the game” (North 1993:
12), and not as organizations. Specifically, innovations are acknowledged to happen
as a result of interaction between institutional, technological and market actors,
when institutions and technology are “misaligned”. A graphical representation of
the framework is available in Fig. 14.1.
When using this framework to look at the Seoul and Bogota cases, it seems that
the development and implementation of the T-money and “Tu Llave” cards have
taken completely opposite paths. In Seoul, the card was basically implemented to
support a wide institutional bus reform (the Seoul Bus Reform) that aimed, among
other things, at changing ownership of bus routes and implementing a citywide-
M. Audouin and M. Finger
drivers also got a fixed salary, independent of the number of passengers transported,
announcing the end of the “penny war” on the SITP network.
However, the implementation of the “Tu Llave” card did not happen as smoothly
as planned. Indeed Recaudo Bogota and Angelcom, for which the blue and red
smart cards were still in place on the TransMilenio network, had not reached any
agreement. Hence, while the “Tu Llave” card was accepted on all newly regulated
bus routes, it remained unaccepted at most TransMilenio bus stations. Recaudo and
Angelcom finally reached an agreement in 2013 where Recaudo was to pay for the
upgrade of all the TransMilenio card readers to make them “Tu Llave” compatible
(El Espectador 2014). Since September 2015, both cards provided by Recaudo and
Angelcom are accepted on the whole TransMilenio network. “Tu Llave” card users
are thus able to access SITP buses (including TransMilenio) and Bogotá Metro,
as well as to freely transfer between those. Currently, the “Tu Llave” card is used
(and has to be used, as it is the only mean of payment) in all SITP buses and BRT
system. The average numbers of daily transactions, including validations, recharge
and transfer, processed by the “Tu Llave” card is around 7 million. In 2015, during
the Korea–Colombia business forum, the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos,
recognized the significant role LG CNS played in the development of the Bogotá
transportation system (Business Korea 2015). However, it was estimated at the time
this paper was written that approximately 2500 buses in Bogota were still operating
as unregulated, thus outside of the SITP, and that Bogota’s City Hall was continuously
fighting to regulate them, to ultimately have the SITP cover the entire Bogota public
transport system.
14.4 Analysis
Because these two cases deal with the introduction of the same technological innovation (smart transportation card) by the same technological actor (LG CNS), they can
provide a good basis for comparative analysis. The following analysis is based on
the alignment (sometimes referred to as coherence) framework from the co-evolution
between institutions and technology literature (Finger et al. 2015). The framework
acknowledges that infrastructure systems are “co-evolving” as a result of evolution
in technologies on the one hand and in institutions on the other hand (Finger et al.
2010), where institutions must be understood as “the rules of the game” (North 1993:
12), and not as organizations. Specifically, innovations are acknowledged to happen
as a result of interaction between institutional, technological and market actors,
when institutions and technology are “misaligned”. A graphical representation of
the framework is available in Fig. 14.1.
When using this framework to look at the Seoul and Bogota cases, it seems that
the development and implementation of the T-money and “Tu Llave” cards have
taken completely opposite paths. In Seoul, the card was basically implemented to
support a wide institutional bus reform (the Seoul Bus Reform) that aimed, among
other things, at changing ownership of bus routes and implementing a citywide-