Down under
September 10th, 2012
Anyone who has money in Mexico City — and some people who don’t – drives a car because of the status they think it brings them. However, owning one doesn’t get you where you are going any faster during rush hour. At only three pesos per ride, the subsidized-by-the-government metro is the cheapest and fastest way to get around Mexico City. About four million people ride it each day.
It has some problems. As the city grew much more quickly than the metro system, it is hardly comprehensive, and at rush hour you feel as if all the four million are in the same car with you. Women have to be on red alert for guys trying to cop a feel.
But if you ride during the off hours it’s a much less fraught experience. On any given journey you can watch a woman applying eyeliner despite the seismic movement, lovers in a passionate clinch, or a blind and lame beggar crying for alms. The staircases and platforms are a souk, and so are the cars themselves, as an endless procession of enterprising salespeople comes and goes, hawking CDs, candy, calendars, flashlights, coloring books and cough drops.
The apartment where I have lived since October of 2010 is two blocks from a metro station. In all my years here I had never lived so close to one. I can’t say that it solves every single transportation problem in the city. But it sure helps with most of them.
Labels: Mexico City
7 Responses to “Down under”
By Don Cuevas on Sep 10, 2012
I like the Metro, except during rush hours.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
By Robert Broughton on Sep 10, 2012
I like the fact that you can buy tickets from a human being behind a window, you can buy several days worth of tickets, and the human being behind the window gives you change.
And something that I think is especially cool is, some of the Metro stations have FREE internet cafes.
By Mark Olson on Sep 11, 2012
It’s a great way to explore and get around the city. Also let’s you know what life is like for people who live there.
By Adriana Degetau on Sep 11, 2012
And you can get parfum from Paris! And other surprises
By Peter W Davies on Sep 11, 2012
Great to see a whole post dedicated to the metro on your blog after I dedicated hundreds and hundreds of hours to riding it and exploring the surrounding areas for the Mexico City Metro Project.
http://www.mexicocitymetro.wordpress.com/
You’re right, it doesn’t solve all the city’s transport conundrums but I shudder to think of how the city would be if the metro wasn’t in operation and all the folk who ride it were forced to rise to already clogged roads of the city to find their way to their destination.
Best regards, Peter
By Randy Bolander on Sep 13, 2012
Also, in comparison to NYC, the Mexico City subway system is a shrine to cleanliness and hygiene.
By ana manwaring on Sep 15, 2012
I loved riding on the Metro when I lived in DF. I always felt safe (except one night trying to get to Tlanepantla at about 2 am) and I never felt safe driving my VW bus. Anyway I was always lost on the streets. Last trip, I didn’t feel as safe, but it might have been because my line had a power outage and we were stuck on the platform in the dark in rising heat while the trains sat idle in the tunnels for about 40 minutes. So my husband and I took that opportunity to neck leaning into a wall–just like most of the other couples.