With four of us, we will be calling a carshare to take us to the airport. I know, right now “Uber” has become a generic word, the way “Fridgidaire,” “Hoover,” and “Xerox” used to be. Since I dislike the company with a passion, however, I will do my part to insure that it remains a proper noun. “Carshare!”
It is slightly easier than calling a radiocab, I suppose, and it does insure working seat belts in the back. I am of mixed minds, to be frank. In Mexico City there is an upwards redistribution of income, since carsharing drivers tend to be richer.
And I miss taking the subway to and from the airport. It’s an experience that most middle and upper-middle class chilangos avoid, for reason that I do not understand. You do have to traverse the entire terminal from the international area to get to the station, but it isn’t that big a terminal: call it twelve Manhattan blocks, a little over a half-mile. You will also have to change trains at least once, since Line 5 runs a peripheral route down the middle of the Interior Circuit expressway. But unless you’re encumbered with bags or headed beyond the reach of the metro, it’s cheaper and faster than taking a taxi.
So why don’t more people do it? Well, practically, the station interchanges are a major PITA. They are long labyrinths. Not unpleasant, but not efficient. The reason the connections between lines are so ridiculous is that Mexico City, wisely, decided to build its metro on the cheap. Sure, you could have had lines dive under each other with platforms carefully laid out to make transfers quick and easy — the Washington Metro is pretty good in this respect — but building cathedrals to urban transit is not how Mexico City rolls. So other than the first three lines (1, 2, and 3, easily enough) everything is jury-rigged.
The most relevant connection for this post is La Raza, which connects Line 5 (the airport line) to Line 3 (a north-south line that runs through a lot of nice middle class neighborhoods). The damn thing is over a half-mile long (like the airport) but rather less pleasant. The first time you do it you will notice the science museum laid out along the walls, covering the history of the universe. The 78th time you do it, you will start to feel like the transfer has taken you the entire age of the universe. I can see this being a deterrent, but come on. By the time you have memorized the panels on the evolution of the cockroach, you can start people watching instead.
The wildest is Chabacano, which connects lines 2, 8, and 9 in wild mess of tunnels, bridges, and escalators. Up-down up-down up-down, great for kids, less so for commuters. But the brutalist architecture is so cheap that it’s charming. In fact, you might recognize some it: they filmed the subway shootouts in Total Recall there. Click the link. The station really is laid out just like the chase! No directorial tricks; they just had Arnie make the transfer. With people shooting at him.
The weirdest is Ermita connecting Line 2 and the newest Line 12. The corridors zig and zag like a protractor. I have no idea why, but if I had to guess, it was much cheaper than just barreling a straight connection through. Kinda triples the distance.
The best is Zapata. Just take it. Much more interesting stuff on the walls than the science museum at La Raza.
And the longest? Oh sweet Mary mother of God, Atlatilco. It connects Line 8 and Line 12. It goes on forever. I did it precisely once, just to see it. I will not voluntarily do it again.
I could go on.
Anyway, the long La Raza connection is not why few people take the airport line. Nor is it crowding. (Want to go to Condesa? Line 5 to Line 9. Annoying transfer; you gotta climb a lot of escalators. But it is still crazy fast and there is very little crowding, even by D.C. standards.)
No, it is just that too many upper middle class chilangos still feel weird on the metro. You know, people selling you candy and phone chargers and music CDs. (I do not understand that market.) Which is too bad.
But which will soon change. Mexico City is building a new airport right outside the city. The talk is of extending Line B to it ... but the real project will be an express train running from Observatorio, where the new commuter rail from Toluca will come in, out to the new airport. It will not be part of the Metro system (although it will connect to it) and it will cost a lot more than the current 29¢. So the middle class will take it, but the poor will not, and so transit will remain class segregated.
It also looks like the airport might be open before the airport connections, which is going to be a Godawful mess, but that is another story.
Recent Comments