In turn, representatives from Mexico, Barcelona, Paris and Costa Rica have all come along to learn, according to Martinez.
In December 2023, the company expanded its operations by taking over the city’s cable car, TransMiCable, and a pilot test for electric school buses is currently underway. One day, they hope to expand it to some 500 routes across the city.
Yet there have been some bumps in the road for La Rolita, particularly when it comes to societal change and cultural beliefs.
The driver Perez says that in the past, sexist male passengers have told her to “go home” while she was working. Others recounted similar issues. “It’s complicated,” she says. “There can be a lack of empathy from passengers.”
Some of Bogotá’s private bus companies also launched a legal challenge against La Rolita in 2021, arguing the city failed to conduct a study proving the need for it. For now, the legal issues have subsided.
And although around 60 percent of the drivers on La Rolita’s fleet are women, which is far greater than the 2.8 percent citywide average across 16,000 public bus drivers, it is still short of the project’s hopes of near-full female employment.
“There’s a lack of female drivers for us to hire at the moment,” says Martinez. “But we believe in time this will be less of an issue.”
To boost those numbers, La Rolita provides two to three months of training for its drivers — many of whom are single mothers and some who previously couldn’t even drive. It also pays to train them and upgrade their driving licenses to use municipal electric vehicles through the Ministry of Mobility’s Eco Driving program.
So for now, La Rolita rolls onward in its effort to put women behind the wheel of public transit and to create a more equal city.
“It’s an immense opportunity,” says Alexandra Parrado, a 32-year-old who began driving for La Rolita one month ago after switching from a private company. “This is much more comfortable and organized. And it’s a case for equality. It’s a space for us to grow.”
