Journal of Transport Geography 46 (2015) 253255
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Journal of Transport Geography
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Transport Geography Page
Transport Geography in Peru
Research on the transportation geography of Peru has not fea-
tured prominently in the Journal of Transport Geography since its
inception. This trend mirrors transport research articles addressing
Latin America generally since the early 1990s, although signicant
growth in research articles on Brazilian transport issues has
occurred since 2011 (Keeling, 2013). As the third largest country
by size in South America, the fourth in population (31 million),
and seventh in GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita (about
$13,000), Peru is inuenced signicantly by its transportation chal-
lenges. The countrys geography presents barriers to accessibility,
mobility, and regional integration. Most trafc occurs along the
northsouth routes between the Andes and the Pacic Ocean,
where the majority of Perus population lives (55 percent).
Almost 10 million people reside in the Lima Metropolitan Area,
about a third of Perus total population. The dominant transport
corridor is the Pan-American Highway that connects Peru to
Ecuador and Chile, with multiple eastwest corridors linking the
coast with Andean and Amazonian communities. Only about 13%
of the countrys population lives in the Peruvian Amazon, which
accounts for 60% of Perus territory, while the remaining third lives
in the Andean highlands.
Detailed transportation research throughout Peru has been
conducted in Spanish by local planners, national and urban gov-
ernment agencies, universities, and regional development groups,
with much attention focused on urban mobility issues (Lima), on
the link between rural development and accessibility, and on
broader trans-boundary connections (e.g., Quispe Cornejo, 2014;
DESCO, 2012; Bara Neto et al., 2006). The focus of this report, how-
ever, is on recent English-language research on transport issues in
Peru and the opportunities that exist for future research, as the
country is signicantly underrepresented in the transport geogra-
phy literature. Given its physical properties, a critical challenge for
Peru is building infrastructure to facilitate better integration with
and connections to its neighbors, with Brazil (east) and Chile
(south) the most important economically. As part of a larger,
continental-wide strategy to enhance regional infrastructure, the
creation in 2000 of the Initiative for the Integration of the
Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA, 2009) led to the
identication of multiple hubs and corridors that would impact
transportation development in Peru generally, but especially in
the Amazon basin. Of particular concern has been the environmen-
tal and social impact of road building in the Peruvian Amazon
(Perz, 2014; Perz et al., 2013; van Dijck, 2013; Mki et al., 2001),
along with concerns about the relationship between transportation
and export opportunities, and the role of port facilities
(Wilmsmeier et al., 2014; Mesquita Moreira et al., 2013).
A much-celebrated project that has been hailed as a signicant
transport infrastructure achievement is the recent completion of
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2015.04.002
the Inter-Oceanic Highway that links the Atlantic port of Santos
(Brazil) with Peruvian ports along the southern Pacic coast
(Fig. 1). Original forecasts by Brazilian transport analysts for this
3000-mile-long corridor argued that the route would provide com-
petition for the renovated Panama Canal by reducing Brazilian
agricultural shipping costs to Asia by up to $100 per ton (Delbar
et al., 2011). However, to date, there is no empirical evidence that
predicted cost savings have materialized. Indeed, the current
physical nature of these roads (surface and width) mitigates any
signicant time and cost savings. Further north, Salonen et al.
(2012) examined measures of spatial accessibility in the Peruvian
Amazons riverine environments to determine what impacts
improved boat trafc capabilities might have on socio-economic
interaction. They found that boat frequency and transport capacity
data suggested a high degree of variability in transport possibilities
across the region. In Iquitos, one of Perus more transport-isolated
communities, Paz-Soldan et al. (2014) used GPS tracking to
attempt a more nely grained analysis of local mobility. Bravo
(2002, 223) researched the role of rural roads in gender relations
in the Peruvian highlands and argued that affordable transport
services and appropriate intermediate means of transport should
be considered and encouraged in transport intervention
programs. Orr (2015) recently examined how class, ethnic, and
geographical divisions within Peruvian society have impacted the
enforcement of transportation safety regulations, arguing for a
greater sensitivity to the anthropological elements of local move-
ment and interaction.
Accessibility and mobility issues are central to strategies
designed for tourism development and enhancement (Tveteras
and Roll, 2014; Smith and Hurt, 2011; Bury, 2008). Without the
basic infrastructure needed to move visitors around the country
to its physical and cultural hotspots, growth in the tourism indus-
try likely could be stied, especially as neighboring Brazil gains
tourism momentum from the 2014 World Cup and the 2016
Olympics. Across the country, only 13% of all roads are paved,
although 60% of national roads are paved, which includes the
critically important northsouth Pan-American Highway (Fig. 2).
Many of the key highways in Peru are now operated by private
concessions, responsible for the highways maintenance and
on-going operation. Originally built by the public sector, these con-
cessions recover costs by charging tolls, which typically run about
2.5 cents per kilometer (this compares to an average of 0.10 cents
in the U.S. and across the Euro zone, although rates do vary widely
by country, by location, and by time of day). Trucks pay at least
twice the private-vehicle toll, depending on the number of axles
and/or tires, which obviously adds a cost to the price of goods
transported.
A nal area of signicant research in recent years on transporta-
tion geography in Peru has been attempts to understand accessibil-
ity and mobility challenges in the Lima Metropolitan Area more
effectively (Barbero, 2007). As the countrys dominant urban
254 Transport Geography Page / Journal of Transport Geography 46 (2015) 253255
Fig. 1. The recently completed Billinghurst Bridge at Puerto Maldonado on the
Brazil-Peru border, part of the Inter-Oceanic Highway. Source: Photo by the author.
region, Lima faces the usual planning, infrastructure, and trafc-
management concerns, especially in terms of the uneven social
and spatial distribution of the citys residents (Peters and Skop,
2007). Drawing from experiences in other metropolitan regions,
Limas government has invested heavily in a transport megaproject
called the Va Parque Rmac expressway, using top-down private
enterprise and planning strategies that have raised valid concerns
about project transparency and social justice (Strauch et al., 2015).
The city also has invested heavily in both bus rapid transit (BRT)
and metro-rail systems aimed at relieving road congestion, reduc-
ing air pollution, improving mobility for the citys poorer residents,
and making commuting more efcient (Martnez, 2008, 2006;
Martnez and Cornejo, 2003), Of particular concern has been the
placing of bus stops and their relationships with trafc accidents
and injuries as BRT usage increases (Quistberg et al., 2013).
There has been no shortage of articles addressing BRT and metro/-
light rail system development across Latin America, but almost all
of this research has taken a comparative approach by examining
Fig. 2. A truck bound for Puerto de Lomas on the Peruvian south coast traverses the
Pan American Highway. Source: Photo by the author.
similar systems in cities like Bogot, Curitiba, Quito, Santiago de
Cali, Buenos Aires, and Lima (see, e.g., Jaramillo et al., 2012).
In summary, Perus transport opportunities and challenges have
not received much attention over the past decade from transport
geographers particularly. Although there has been a robust litera-
ture exploring the countrys transport systems from myriad the-
matic perspectives, the spatial element has been mostly absent
from much of the research. New technologies like GIS could be
put to good use in understanding ow and network dynamics,
not just in the cities but across the country. More research is neces-
sary on the wider socio-economic impact of IIRSA regional hub
strategies, with more detailed analysis needed of the efcacy of
new infrastructure in the Peruvian Amazon basin and the eastern
Andean foothills. How are tourism opportunities limited or
enhanced by transport infrastructure, particularly in managing
ows between coastal and Andean tourist destinations? Are there
expansion opportunities for Limas BRT or rail networks, and what
might their impact be on property prices, economic development,
social mobility, and urban integration? Is the accelerating pri-
vatization of transport infrastructure in the best interests of
Peruvian society, and how might the redistribution of costs impact
individuals at different levels along the social hierarchy?
Transportation geographers have much to offer in expanding our
understanding of Perus accessibility and mobility relationships.
Planners, policy makers, and infrastructure providers need effec-
tive spatial analysis to help guide more rational and economically
appropriate decisions.
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