Traffic

Who says traffic in Bogotá says traffic jam, pollution, buses, taxis, taxis, buses, Transmilenio, pico y placa, and yet more buses and taxis. One of the major problems of this city is the what seems uncontrollable amount of vehicles and traffic chaos at rush hour and the lack of a proper public transportation system.
Traffic jam: weekdays between 7 AM and 9 AM and between 5 PM and 8 PM, Saturdays between 10 AM and 4 PM (terrible), at the beginning and the end of public holiday weekends, but also Friday afternoons and often around noon during the week - I think you got the gist of it :) The only thing to do is avoid going places by car at these times if you can and remain patient...!
Taxis: there are approximately 50000 (official) taxis in Bogotá; they are cheap with a minimum fare of $ 3400 COP (approximately € 1.50) and provided you order them by phone, a relatively safe and practical way to get around places.



Buses:
the streets of Bogotá are full of often old and everything but environmentally friendly buses, run by private organizations fighting for a monopoly of travellers and routes. Fares are $ 1450 (about € 0.65) during daytime and the buses follow a specific route without predefined stops. Meaning they stop anytime somebody wants to get on or off, so you can imagine how this impacts the flow of traffic when their only objective is to transport as many people as they can possibly pick up. Unfortunately it has not possible to replace this "clan" system with an official, organized, and clean bus system, so they seem to be everywhere, always getting in your way, with little to no respect for other vehicles, sometimes dangerous and ruthless, and rather unpleasant traffic companions.


Transmilenio: public bus system with predefined routes and stops (not to be taken for granted here!). This definitely helped alleviate traffic and shorten commuting time, though more routes would be needed and the buses are not able to follow a predetermined schedule.

Pico y placa: depending on the last digit of your number plate, there are two working days a week you are not allowed to use your vehicle between 6 AM and 8 PM. This is in theory a great measure to reduce traffic and the time of restriction was soon extended from a couple of hours in the morning and evening to almost the whole day. However, the effects are only mildly palpable (people with money just buy two cars) and the city is considering new measures such as congestion charges or more days of pico y placa.