Draft:La Plata Urban Transportation System

The La Plata Urban Transportation System (Sistema Urbano de Transporte in Spanish) is the principal public transport operator in the Greater La Plata area. Formed in 2001 as a strictly bus system, the SUT operates a network of bus routes covering all the localidades in the partido of La Plata.

History
The Urban Transportation System was an initiative created in 2001 by the Municipality of La Plata in response to the widespread transportation crisis in the city, whose objective was to improve the bus system to organize traffic.

Five lines were created, in order to replace former lines 506 (operated by U.T.E. Líneas 506-561), 508 (Nueve de Julio S.A.T.), 518 (Línea 18 S.R.L.), 520 (Flecha de Oro S.R.L.) and 561 (U.T.E. Líneas 506-561). The Norte line was created to replace line 520, Sur line to replace line 506, Este in replacement of line 518, and Oeste in replacement of lines 508 and 561, adding a new line (Centro) to run within the La Plata downtown.

The system contemplated to build transfer stations between the different lines, that would make possible to connect different points of the city almost directly, although the transfer stations were never built due to complaints from neighbors, which brought the closure of the Centro line after three months of operation.

Beginning in 2010, bus lines 508, 518 and 561 were restored, although as express bus service lines. One year later, the seven bus lines in operation at the time and 2 new bus lines (506 and 520) were put out to tender, which were finally transferred for their operations to the companies Fuerte Barragan S.A.T.I.C.I., Nueve de Julio S.A.T. and Unión Platense S.R.L.

In 2012, the concession contract to the company Nueve de Julio S.A.T. on lines Norte and 518 was terminated, which were subsequently tendered and awarded to the companies Fuerte Barragan S.A.T.I.C.I. (518) and Unión Platense S.R.L. (Norte).

A bicycle-sharing system was created in 2013 under the name "La Plata on bici" (La Plata en bici in Spanish) with a dockless system in the San Martín Plaza, although all stations created were closed by the beginning of 2017. The system was re-opened in late 2017 as "Move Yourself on Bike" (Movete en Bici in Spanish). Several cycle tracks were built since 2003, reaching a total of 34,8 kilometers of cycle tracks in February 2022 and over 55 kilometers in September 2023.

System
The SUT is composed of a bus system and a bicycle-sharing system composed with several cycle tracks, all of which operate primarily within the boundaries of the La Plata partido, including the municipalties of Abasto, Altos de San Lorenzo, Ángel Etcheverry, Arturo Segui, City Bell, Los Hornos, Joaquín Gorina, Lisandro Olmos, Manuel B. Gonnet, José Hernández, Melchor Romero, El Peligro, Ringuelet, San Carlos, Tolosa, Villa Elisa, Villa Elvira and Villa Garibaldi. In addition to La Plata itself, the transit system is accompanied by other provincial bus lines operated by the same companies of the SUT that serve various suburbs within its service area, including the partidos of Berazategui, Berisso, and Ensenada, among others.