A ride on the Metrobús 4
While I was in Mexico City this past summer, I met up with some friends of mine there who are also aficionados of the city’s public transit system (we “met” many years ago through the Spanish-language forum where “all things Mexico City Metro” are discussed). They are the ones who kindly took me on my first ride on the Línea Dorada. One day, we did a tour of the Line 4, which opened on April 1, 2012. This line takes a route through the Historic Center of the city, and also serves both Terminals of the International Airport. Because it goes through the narrower streets of the Historic Center, the buses used are not the double-length buses found on the other lines; they are smaller buses similar to the low-floor buses found in Montreal, among other cities. I’m not personally really interested in bus models and such so I can’t tell you much more than that. What I can tell you is that for most of the route, the bus was very crowded with people doing their Sunday shopping.
One thing that struck me about this line is the design of the stops. Again because of the route chosen, many of the stops were much smaller than the large glass-enclosed stations found on Insurgentes, for example. Some of them were barely more than a sign indicating that there was a stop here.
Another thing that struck me was the difficulty that the bus had to get past the stops near the La Merced market. So many people and vehicles were in the street that we were at a near standstill for a good 10-15 minutes. There is an unfortunate lack of respect for the right of way of public transit, as evidenced in the numerous accidents that take place with the other Metrobus buses, even in the reserved lanes that they enjoy (which the Line 4 does not).
In any case, other than that little bit of waiting in traffic, the ride was an interesting one, and took me to some areas of the city that I hadn’t ever been through before. Hope you enjoy my photos!
