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| City Guide - Mexico City - Getting Around | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Getting Around Public Transport Considering the sheer size of Mexico City, getting around may seem a daunting prospect. However, the city offers a comprehensive and cheap public transport system. Pickpockets are rife on all public transport. Metro Hidalgo is a particularly notorious station where pickpockets and bag-snatchers seek out tourists. 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. 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. Pickpockets operate on the buses. It is not advisable to travel on any form of public transport late 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$5. There is no need to accept a fixed price. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been a rise in taxi crime, and violent assaults, robberies and rapes have been reported. It is best to avoid hailing taxis in the street. More expensive but far safer are radio taxis. These can be telephoned or ordered from hotels and restaurants: Servitaxis (tel: (5) 516 6020); Taxi Radio 24 Horas (tel: (5) 566 0077); Taxi-Mex (tel: (5) 538 1440); Taxi Radio Mex (tel: (5) 584 0571). 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 Many of the hotels catering for business travellers offer car hire with bilingual drivers. Grey Line Tours Rent-a-Car (tel: (5) 208 1163) offers English-speaking guides with their cars from US$39 a 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. 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. 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: (5) 526 9563; website: www.sima.com.mx) in an effort to combat the city's pollution problem. No matter where they are registered, cars 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. In the historic centre, there are several public car parks south of Avenida Madero, charging around M$10 an hour. 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 some firms accept 21-year-olds. Insurance, tax and fuel are an additional cost to the basic daily or weekly rental rate. Car hire companies include: Avis (tel: (800) 288 8888; website: www.avis.com), Budget (tel: (800) 700 1700; website: www.budget.com), Europcar (tel: (800) 003 9500; website: www.europcar.com), Hertz (tel: (800) 709 5000; website: www.hertz.com), Thrifty (tel: (800) 021 2277; website: www.thrifty.com), Grey Line Rent-a-Car (tel: (5) 208 1163); Auto Rent (tel: (5) 533 5335) and Pamara (tel: (5) 525 5572). 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. |
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