|
|
| Home > City Guide - Mexico City - Getting Around | ||
|
||
|
Getting Around Public Transport Considering the sheer size of Mexico City, getting around may seem a daunting prospect, however, the city has a comprehensive and cheap public transport system. The best method of travelling is by metro. Mexico City has a modern, efficient and simple-to-use system. There is a flat fare of M$1.50, which includes transfers. It is advisable to buy a number of tickets in advance to avoid queuing. These tickets are simply fed into a turnstile and are valid indefinitely. Trains display their dirección (direction); when changing trains, transfers are marked Correspondencia. Lineas (lines) 1, 2, 3 and A are open Monday to Friday 0500-2430, Saturday 0600-0130, Sunday 0700-2430; lines 4 through 9 and B open one hour later on weekdays. During rush hour the carriages get very crowded and are best avoided; between 1800 and 2100 Solo Mujeres y Niños (women and children only) carriages operate. Municipally run Ruta-100 buses display their routes on the windscreen and cost M$10. Minibuses or peseros (also referred to as micros-buses or micros) ply the streets of Mexico City, their routes painted on the windscreen and are a fun, if slow, way to travel. They can be hailed anywhere and do not have fixed stops, passengers indicate their stop by shouting ‘bajan’. Fares are M$2 for up to five kilometres (three miles), M$2.50 for up to 12km (7.5 miles), M$3 for longer distances and M$4 between 2300 and 0600. This is paid directly to the bus driver on boarding the bus so it is useful to have the correct change. Visitors should note that pickpockets are rife on all public transport. Metro Hidalgo is a particularly notorious station where pickpockets and bag-snatchers seek out tourists. There have also been a few unpleasant cases of ‘express kidnapping’, where people are not only forced to withdraw their daily limit from an ATM at gunpoint, but then held overnight or for successive nights and forced to make further withdrawals each day. The only way of guaranteeing that this does not happen is to not carry any cards and therefore not be worth kidnapping, even if mugged, although the number of police in most of the sightseeing areas has recently greatly increased, so visitors should feel safe in the day. It would be sensible not to carry any cards at night and not to travel on public transport at night. Taxis There are several different types of taxi available. The most common are the taxis on unfixed routes. These unofficial taxis are generally green and white Volkswagen Beetles. A taxímetro or digital meter should compute the fare – starting at M$4.50 – and there is no need to accept a fixed price. These taxis can be hailed in the street; however, is is probably more sensible to call for a radio taxi. Unfortunately, in recent years, there has been a rise in taxi crime and violent assaults, robberies and rapes have been reported. Also, unless visitors know exactly where they are going and how to get there (and how to describe that all in Spanish), the drivers may not always know the way. Having said that, these these taxi-drivers are often extremely charming and friendly, while also fairly streetwise and opinionated, and they are widely used by journalists as a barometer of political sentiment on the street. Radio taxis are more expensive but far more reliable and safer. These can be telephoned or ordered from hotels and restaurants. Companies include: Servitaxis (tel: (55) 5516 6020); Taxi Radio 24 Horas (tel: (55) 5566 0077); Taxi-Mex (tel: (55) 5538 1440); Taxi Radio Mex (tel: (55) 5584 0571) and Radio Elite (tel: (55) 5660 1122). From the airport and main bus terminals, fixed-price Transportación Terrestre or autorizado (authorised) taxis operate. Rates start at US$5, depending on the distance. Tickets are bought in advance from booths, which also display maps indicating the different zones and prices. It is not customary to tip the driver. Limousines One reputable company offering limousine hire with English-speaking chauffeurs and guides if required is First Class Ground Transportation, Manuel Maria Contreras 107, Interior 3, San Rafael (tel: (55) 1999 2939; e-mail: firstclass@axtel.net). Many of the hotels catering for business travellers will also be able to organise limousine hire (or car hire) with bilingual chauffeurs. Grey Line Tours Rent-a-Car (see Car Hire below) offers English-speaking guides with their cars for US$39 per day, in addition to cost of the car hire. Driving in the City Driving in Mexico City is not recommended. Traffic can be dense and infuriating, the one-way systems confusing and signposting less than clear. Visitors should certainly not drive alone at night, as there have been many reports of hijacking, robbery and assaults on lone drivers. Also, the red lights tend to stop operating at night except on large thoroughfares. Mexico City has two ring roads, the Anillo Periférico, through what used to be the city outskirts, and the Circuito Interior, within its circumference. The city has a structure of primary roads called Ejes Viales (road axes). The Eje Central runs from south to north passing by Bellas Artes; this serves as the focal point for numbering of all other roads: Ejes to the west are called Eje 1 poniente, Eje 2 poniente, etc; those to the east Eje 1 oriente, Eje 2 oriente and so on; to the north, Eje norte; and to the south, Eje sur. Mexico City operates a ‘Hoy No Circula’ (Don’t Drive Today) policy (tel: (55) 5526 9563; website: www.sima.com.mx) in an effort to combat the city’s pollution problem. No matter where they are registered, cars without catalytic converters are banned from driving between 0500 and 1000 for one day each week. The last digit of the registration plate denotes when the vehicle must be taken out of circulation: 5 and 6 on Monday; 7 and 8 Tuesday; 3 and 4 Wednesday; 1 and 2 Thursday; 9 and 0 Friday. Some hotels offer off-street parking. Otherwise estacionamiento público (supervised public car parks) are recommended and cheap. In the Centro Histórico, there are several public car parks south of Avenida Madero, charging around M$10 an hour. Many restaurants have valet parking but it is wise to remove valuables like stereos from the car before leaving it with the valet. Car Hire Car hire in Mexico is expensive. A valid driving licence from the driver’s home country is required to hire a car, as is a valid passport and a major credit card. The driver must usually be a minimum of 23 years old, although sometimes this is lowered to 21 years. Insurance, tax and fuel are an additional cost to the basic daily or weekly rental rate. Car hire companies include: Avis, Hotel Presidente Inter-Continental, Avenida Campos Eliseos 218, Polanco (tel: (55) 5280 1301 or (55) 5588 8888, general reservations; website: www.avis.com.mx); Budget, Athenas 40, Juárez (tel: (55) 5566 6800, general reservations; e-mail: reservaciones@budget.com.mx; website: www.budget.com.mx); Hertz, Versailles 6, Juárez (tel: (55) 5592 8343; website: www.hertz.com.mx); Thrifty, Avenida Campos Eliseos 199B, Polanco or Paseo de la Reforma 322, Juárez (tel: (55) 5280 5847 or 5207 1100; website: www.thrifty.com.mx); and Grey Line Rent-a-Car, Londres 166, Juárez (tel: (55) 5208 1163; fax: (55) 5208 2838; e-mail: greyline@supernet.com.mx; website: www.greyline.com.mx). Bicycle Hire Bicycles can be hired for about US$5 per hour (Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1700) from Avenida Heroico Colegio Militar, in the primera sección of Chapultepec Park. |
||
