How Medellín Used Public Transport to Lead Urban Transformation
Access to opportunity. Social inclusion and territorial cohesion. Healthier neighbourhoods. Higher quality of urban life.
We know that these are benefits of public transport because we see the proof of it every day in cities like Medellín, Colombia.
2025 marks 30 years of operation for Metro de Medellín. In that time, the operator and city authorities together have proved how public transport drives urban renewal and positive social transformation.
On 11-14 November 2025, global public transport professionals will get a behind-the-scenes look into Medellín at the UITP Latin America Forum. Participants from Latin America and the world will join inspiring sessions and technical visits to discover how the city’s social programmes and innovative, integrated mobility network have transformed daily life in Medellín.
Examples of Public Transport Success in Medellín
Integration and multimodality
Medellín is a great example of integration – even with the city’s geographical challenges and diverse offer of metro, cable cars, BRT, buses, trams, shared bikes, and even escalators.
The metro, launched in 1995, forms the system’s backbone and acts as an anchor for all other modes. When the cable cars came in 2004 and BRT in 2011, they were always planned with the metro in mind. And as the service offer scaled up, so too did ridership.
The city’s bike-sharing scheme, called EnCicla and operated by Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá, is deemed the first fully integrated shared bikes in Latin America, with some 90 stations near universities and public transport stops. Unlike many cities, the docking stations are marked on the transport map. Equally unique, the system is free to use. By 2030, the city aims for 10% of all trips to be made by bicycle.
All in all, studies show that the mobility network’s integration has reduced the average travel time in Medellín from 90 to 30 minutes – with more than 90% of users reporting time savings coming from more disadvantaged populations.
And that saved time lays the groundwork for urban transformation. Across Medellín, 70% of people use public transport to get to work and another 12% to access education.
Broader urban renewal projects
Urban transformation can start with public transport, but that’s not where it ends.
Areas close to the first Metrocable became a first test for interventions to drive social inclusion in Medellín’s most disadvantaged districts. This was dubbed the PUI, or in full Proyecto Urbano Integral (Integrated Urban Project). Focused on land management, PUIs have become a vital part of the Medellín toolkit for change.
Alongside and around public transport infrastructure, Medellín built:
- 1.6 million square metres of new public space, including:
- 25 parks,
- 11 promenades,
- and close to a dozen libraries.
PUIs act as a guide for Medellín, underpinned by institutional coordination, political leadership, and technical capacity.
The efforts have had great success. Over the past decades, perceptions of safety have increased in Medellín – most significantly in neighbourhoods served by cable cars. Overall, poverty has fallen from 37% of the city’s population in 2002 to under 10% today.
Adapted local solutions
Integrated with the metro, in 2004 Medellín inaugurated the Metrocable K line – the world’s first integration of cable cars into an existing metro system. Like many Latin American cities, disadvantaged residents live in informal settlements on the hilly outskirts.
Thanks to the aerial cableways, a physically tough daily trip downtown of two hours was cut to just 30 minutes. It’s no wonder then that today some 136,000 people ride Metrocable daily. And all without local emissions or adding to road congestion.
Medellín’s geography necessitates other solutions too. Operated by Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano, free-to-use, electric escalators – spanning some 384m – connect tens of thousands living in the hilly outskirts to the Metro de Medellín operated metro system, cutting journeys of 35 minutes down to just six.
Or take the city’s trams. Rather than conventional steel wheels, their fleet of 12 trams use rubber tyres for better grip on steep hills.
From mode to mode, Medellín’s local solutions make the public transport feel uniquely its own.
Cultura Metro
“We are all innovators” so says Cultura Metro, Medellín’s programme that invests in forming permanent links with the community. And these links go a long way to explaining Medellín’s success.
Take education. The programme includes comprehensive well-being sessions, five education centres (certifying 370 students in 2024), and diversity and inclusion training, including for transport police officers.
That’s in addition to apprenticeships for young graduates in a range of fields, such as solar panel installation. Just the public transport drivers’ programme alone has trained over 2,300 students in total.
Cultura Metro also includes art and cultural events, dedicated space for murals, and the design of rolling stock to reflect local history.
Social participation
Building on Cultura Metro, the city involves the community deeply in decision-making. This creates a sense of ownership and collective scrutiny for public works.
Set to launch in 2028, local residents have already participated in workshops on the future of the new Metro de la 80. At one session, participants were asked “what elements of the area would you like to be remembered after the metro is built?” In other words, Metro de Medellín does more than ask for the values and opinions of residents – it embeds them in their plans.
Sometimes plans change radically when you involve the community. In one case, instead of building a new sports court, residents preferred to fund scholarships for young people to attend university.
Explore Medellín
From 11-14 November 2025, the UITP Latin America Forum will showcase Medellín’s innovations and bring together global thought leaders, policymakers, and industry experts.
Registration closes on 30 October!
