Mexico City Metrobús

Mexico City Metrobús

Metrobús on Insurgentes station
Founded	2005
Locale	Mexico City
Service type	bus rapid transit
Routes	6
Stops	208
Fleet	269 Articulated buses + 35 Bi-articulated buses = 304 total[1]
Daily ridership	900,000 daily (Dec. 2013)[2]
Website	www.metrobus.df.gob.mx (in Spanish)

The Mexico City Metrobús (officially Sistema de Corredores de Transporte Público de Pasajeros del Distrito Federal and simply known as Metrobús) is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that has served Mexico City since 2005. As of November 2013 it comprises five lines that traverse the city and connect with other forms of transit, namely the Mexico City Metro. It was officially opened to the public with service along line 1 on 19 June 2005.

As of December 2013, Metrobús buses transported 900,000 passengers daily.^[2]

History

The Mexico City Metrobús was opened along the northernmost portion of Line 1 on 19 June 2005.^[3] Initial service was from Metro Indios Verdes south to Metro Insurgentes. This was quickly followed by a southward expansion from Metro Insurgentes to MB station Doctor Gálvez, bringing the line length up to 20 kilometres (12 mi). Many of the stations along Line 1 feature cantilevered glass canopies designed by architect Carlos Monge.^[4]

Before and after

The system replaced 372 standard buses and microbuses that served Avenida de los Insurgentes with 212 articulated buses that run at an average speed of 20 km/h (12 mph), doing 60 km/h (37 mph) as maximum. Doing so, travel times along the corridor are reduced up to 50%.^[5]

Environmental impact

Besides addressing the bus service problem, the BRT Metrobús project emerged in the context of the city’s efforts to reduce Air pollution in Mexico City with a program called Proaire 2002-2010.^[6] According to Metrobús, annual environmental benefits include a reduction of 35,400 long tons (36,000 t) of carbon dioxide, 9,700 long tons (9,900 t) of carbon monoxide, 206 long tons (209 t) of NOx, and 1.27 long tons (1.29 t) of PM10 particulates

2008 expansion

MB station Xola under construction near the intersection of Eje Central and Eje 4 Sur, 25 August 2008

The original Line 1 was expanded with the inclusion of nine new stations in order to achieve full coverage of Avenida Insurgentes. The southward expansion of service along Line 1 started service on 13 March 2008 and brought the line's length up to 30 kilometres (19 mi).^[3]

A second Metrobús line was also built in 2008, running west to east along Eje 4 Sur. This second line connects Metro Tacubaya, Etiopía, Patriotismo and with the Insurgentes Metrobús at its Nuevo León stop, and was opened on 16 December 2009.^[7]

2010 expansion

According to the Mexican newspaper, El Universal, construction of the first 16 km (9.9 mi) of Línea 3 (line 3) began on 5 March 2010 and was scheduled to end in April 2011.^[8] However, service along Line 3 started on 8 February 2011.^[9] During construction, for every tree taken down three were planted, for a total of 1,546 trees planted. In addition, it was estimated that Line 3 will carry 100,000 passengers per day.^[8] Travel time will be reduced by up to 40%.

2011 expansion

In late 2010 the Head of Government of the Federal District Marcelo Ebrard announced a plan to build a new Metrobús Line 4 that would run from near Buenavista Station in the west of the city eastward towards Mexico City International Airport.^[10] Construction on Line 4 started on 4 July 2011,^[11] although the start of construction was met with some protest from residents and business owners along the proposed route.^[12]

2013 expansion

On November 5, 2013, Line 5 opened, running along Eje 3 Oriente connecting San Lazaro with Metro Río de los Remedios to the northeast;^[13][14]

2014 expansion

In 2014, Line 6 opened, running along Eje 5 Norte connecting El Rosario with Aragón

2015 expansion

In 2015, Line 7 opened, running along Paseo de la Reforma connecting Metro Indios Verdes with Periferico

Passenger access and payment

Southern section of Avenida de los Insurgentes seen from a bridge of the Periférico near the Perisur Mall, showing the Perisur MB station

Ticketing is by pre-paid proximity smartcard, which travellers have to pass through turnstiles at the entry to the separated bus platforms. During the early months of the system's operations, limited availability of the cards required a temporary method for access to the system involving purchasing a normal single-trip paper ticket at a cost of MXN$4.50. Starting in October 2005, and with smartcard supply able to cover the demand, access is done exclusively by using the card.

As of 2014, the single-trip cost is MXN$6.00 (about € 0.27 or US$ 0.38) A new MB smartcard, preloaded with one voyage, can be purchased for MXN$10.00 (≈ € 0.80/US$ 1.14) and "recharged" for MXN$6.00 per trip.

The smartcard system has generated controversy, especially from occasional and one-time users who complain about the MXN$15.00 fee for a single-voyage card, for this is common that sometimes people ask others who have the smartcard to charge for them a trip.

Service is free for those over 70 years old, or disabled, as well as for children under 5 accompanied by an adult.^[15]

Routes and hours

The first line covers a distance of up to 30 kilometres (19 mi), running in a dedicated bus lane built within the central reservation (median) of Avenida de los Insurgentes.^[3] Avenida Insurgentes is one of the city's main north–south arterial routes, constitutes a section of the Pan-American Highway, and is reputed to be the longest urban avenue in the world.

The line starts at Metro Indios Verdes, a large multimodal transport node in the Gustavo A. Madero borough. From there it runs south, through Cuauhtémoc and Benito Juárez, before terminating in the La Joya district of Tlalpan borough, providing a total of 45 stations. It was built in two sections, with a split at Metro Insurgentes, the notional dividing point between the avenue's northern and southern stretches, just south of where Avenida Insurgentes intersects with Paseo de la Reforma.

System map

On its route south from Indios Verdes, the Metrobús also connects with Metro stations at Deportivo 18 de Marzo, Potrero, La Raza, Buenavista, Revolución, Insurgentes, and Chilpancingo, providing connections with Metro Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9. The proposed southward extension of Mexico City Metro Line 7 will also enable that line to connect at the Metrobús' original southernmost station, Doctor Gálvez.

Line 2 runs 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Tacubaya in the west, where there is a connection to the Metro Tacubaya station; to Tepalcates in the east, where there is a connection to the Metro Tepalcates station.^[16]

Line 2 opened on 16 December 2009.^[7]

Line 3 runs 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Tenayuca northwest of the city southward to Etiopía II, where there is connection to Metrobús Line 2 as well as the Metro Etiopía station.^[9]

Line 3 opened on 8 February 2011.^[9]

Line 4 includes a two-step construction process with the first 28-kilometre (17 mi) operational segment built between Buenavista and Metro San Lázaro.^[17] An extension provides travel between San Lázaro and the airport.^[17] Instead of travelling along a single avenue or axis road, Line 4 traffic circulates around the Centro Histórico.^[17] To navigate the turns and narrow streets in and near the Centro Histórico, Line 4 uses 12-metre-long (39 ft) light buses instead of the 18-metre (59 ft) articulated buses used on the other lines in the system.^[17] The stations for Line 4 look more like conventional bus stops and are built at curbside instead of within a dedicated portion of a central reservation as used on the other lines.^[17]

The MB operates from 04:30 to 24:00 (midnight) Monday through Friday, and from 05:00 to 24:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Hours for individual stations may vary in the mornings.^[1] A flash-based map of the system is available at the Metrobús website.^[16]

Line 4 opened on 1 April 2012.

Line 5 runs 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Río de los Remedios in the north, where there is a connection to the Río de los Remedios station; to San Lázaro in the eastern center, where there is a connection to the Metro San Lázaro

Line 5 opened on 5 November 2013.^[13]

Line 6 runs 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Villa de Aragón in the east, where there is a connection to the Villa de Aragón station; to El Rosario in the west, where there is a connection to the Metro El Rosario.

Line 6 opened on 21 January 2016.

List of stations

Official name (if any) in brackets. Metro stations in italics are the nearest, though not interconnected.

Indios Verdes Station.

Line 1 (Avenida Insurgentes) Indios Verdes - El Caminero

Hamburgo

1. Indios Verdes <-> Indios Verdes
2. Deportivo 18 de Marzo <-> Deportivo 18 de Marzo
3. Euzkaro >>> Deportivo 18 de Marzo
4. Potrero <-> Potrero
5. La Raza <-> La Raza
6. Circuito >>> La Raza
7. San Simón >>> Tlatelolco
8. Manuel González >>> Tlatelolco
9. Buenavista <-> Buenavista
10. El Chopo >>> Buenavista
11. Revolución <-> Revolución
12. Plaza de la Republica >>> Revolución
13. Reforma >>> Revolución
14. Hamburgo >>> Insurgentes
15. Insurgentes (Glorieta de los Insurgentes) <-> Insurgentes
16. Durango >>> Insurgentes
17. Álvaro Obregón >>> Insurgentes
18. Sonora >>> Chilpancingo
19. Campeche >>> Chilpancingo
20. Chilpancingo <-> Chilpancingo
21. Nuevo León
22. La Piedad >>> Eugenia
23. Poliforum (Poliforum Siqueiros) >>> Metro San Pedro de los Pinos
24. Nápoles
25. Colonia del Valle >>> San Pedro de los Pinos
26. Ciudad de los Deportes >>> San Antonio
27. Parque Hundido >>> Insurgentes Sur
28. Félix Cuevas <-> Insurgentes Sur
29. Río Churubusco >>> Insurgentes Sur
30. Teatro Insurgentes >>> Barranca del Muerto
31. José María Velasco >>> Barranca del Muerto
32. Francia >>> Barranca del Muerto
33. Olivo >>> Viveros
34. Altavista >>> Miguel Ángel de Quevedo
35. La Bombilla >>> Miguel Ángel de Quevedo
36. Doctor Gálvez >>> Copilco
37. Ciudad Universitaria >>> Universidad
38. Centro Cultural Universitario >>> Universidad
39. Perisur >>> Universidad
40. Villa Olímpica
41. Corregidora
42. Ayuntamiento
43. Fuentes Brotantes
44. Santa Úrsula
45. La Joya
46. El Caminero (Monumento al Caminero)

Line 2 (Eje 4 Sur) Tacubaya - Tepalcates

1. Tacubaya <-> Tacubaya
2. Parque Lira
3. Antonio Maceo
4. De la Salle
5. Patriotismo <-> Patriotismo
6. Escandón
7. Nuevo León
8. Viaducto
9. Amores
10. Etiopía/Plaza de la Transparencia <-> Etiopía
11. Doctor Vértiz
12. Centro SCOP
13. Álamos
14. Xola <-> Xola
15. Las Américas
16. Andrés Molina
17. La Viga >>> Santa Anita
18. Coyuya >>> Coyuya
19. Tlacotal
20. Canela
21. Goma
22. Iztacalco
23. UPIICSA
24. El Rodeo
25. Río Tecolutla
26. Río Mayo
27. Río Frío
28. Rojo Gómez
29. Del Moral
30. Leyes de Reforma
31. CCH Oriente
32. Constitución de Apatzingán
33. Canal de San Juan <-> Canal de San Juan
34. Nicolás Bravo
35. Gral. A. de León
36. Tepalcates <-> Tepalcates

Line 3 (Eje 1 Poniente) Tenayuca - Etiopía/Plaza de la Transparencia

1. Tenayuca
2. San José de la Escalera
3. Progreso Nacional
4. Tres Anegas
5. Júpiter
6. La Patera
7. Poniente 146 >>> Politécnico
8. Montevideo
9. Poniente 134 >>> Vallejo
10. Poniente 128
11. Magdalena de las Salinas
12. Coltongo >>> Autobuses del Norte
13. Cuitláhuac
14. Héroe de Nacozari
15. Hospital La Raza
16. La Raza 2
17. Circuito >>> La Raza
18. Tolnahuac
19. Tlatelolco
20. Ricardo Flores Magón
21. Guerrero >>> Guerrero
22. Buenavista II >>> Buenavista
23. Mina
24. Hidalgo >>>>>> Hidalgo
25. Juárez >>> Juárez
26. Balderas >>> Balderas
27. Cuauhtémoc >>> Cuauhtémoc
28. Jardín Pushkin Niños Heroes
29. Hospital General >>> Hospital General
30. Doctor Márquez
31. Centro Médico >>> Centro Médico
32. Obrero Mundial
33. Etiopía/Transparencia <-> Etiopía

Line 4 (Centro Histórico) Buenavista - Terminal 2

1. Buenavista Buenavista
2. Delegacion Cuauhtémoc
3. Puente de Alvarado Revolucion
4. Plaza de la República
5. Glorieta de Colón
6. EXPO Reforma
7. Vocacional 5
8. Juárez >>> Juarez
9. Plaza San Juan San Juan de Letran
10. Eje Central Salto del Agua
11. El Salvador
12. Isabel la Católica Isabel la Catolica
13. Museo de la Ciudad >>> Pino Suarez Zocalo
14. Pino Suarez Pino Suarez
15. Las Cruces
16. La Merced Merced
17. Circunvalación >>> Merced
18. Mercado de Sonora
19. Cecilio Robelo Candelaria
20. Hospital Balbuena Candelaria Fray Servando
21. Eduardo Molina
22. Moctezuma Moctezuma
23. San Lazaro <-> San Lazaro
24. Archivo General de la Nacion
25. Morelos Morelos
26. Ferrocarril de Cintura
27. Mixcalco Tepito
28. Teatro de Pueblo
29. República de Argentina Allende
30. República de Chile Allende
31. Teatro Blanquita
32. Bellas Artes Bellas Artes
33. Hidalgo >>> Hidalgo
34. Museo San Carlos
35. Puente de Alvarado Revolucion
36. Delegación Cuauhtémoc
37. Buenavista Buenavista
38. Terminal 1 Terminal Aerera
39. Terminal 2 Pantitlan

Line 5 (Eje 3 Oriente) Río de los Remedios - San Lázaro

1. Río de los Remedios
2. 314 Memorial News Divine
3. 5 de Mayo
4. Vasco de Quiroga
5. El Coyol
6. Preparatoria 3
7. San Juan de Aragón
8. Río Guadalupe >>> Martin Carrera
9. Talisman >>> Talisman
10. Victoria
11. Oriente 101 >>> Bondojito
12. Río Santa Coleta
13. Consulado Eduardo Molina
14. Canal del Norte >>> Canal del Norte
15. Deportivo Eduardo Molina
16. Mercado Morelos >>> Morelos
17. Archivo General de la Nación
18. San Lazaro >>> San Lazaro

Line 6 (Eje 5 Norte) El Rosario - Villa de Aragón

1. El Rosario <-> El Rosario
2. Colegio de Bachilleres 1
3. De las Culturas
4. Ferrocarriles Nacionales
5. UAM Azcapotzalco
6. Tecnoparque
7. Norte 59
8. Norte 45 >>> Norte 45
9. Montevideo
10. Lindavista - Vallejo
11. Instituto del Petróleo >>> Instituto del Petróleo
12. San Bartolo
13. Instituto Politécnico Nacional
14. Riobamba
15. Deportivo 18 de marzo >>> Deportivo 18 de Marzo
16. La Villa >>> La Villa-Basílica
17. De los Misterios
18. Hospital Infantil La Villa
19. Delegación Gustavo A. Madero
20. Martín Carrera <-> Martín Carrera
21. Hospital General La Villa
22. San Juan de Aragón
23. Gran Canal
24. Casas Alemán
25. Pueblo San Juan de Aragón
26. Loreto Fabela
27. 482
28. 414
29. 416 Oriente
30. 416 Poniente
31. Deportivo los Galeana
32. Ampliación Providencia
33. Volcán de Fuego
34. La Pradera
35. Colegio de Bachilleres 9
36. Francisco Morazán
37. Villa de Aragón >>> Villa de Aragón

See also

• Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos
• Metrobus (Lahore)
• Metrobus (Istanbul)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mexico City Metrobús.

• Metrobús official website - In Spanish

Urban public transport networks and systems in Mexico Commuter rail FSZMVM Rail of Mexico City Rapid transit Mexico City Metro (STC) Light rail SITEUR light rail/metro of Guadalajara Mexico City light rail Metrorrey of Monterrey Trolleybus Trolleybuses in Guadalajara Trolleybuses in Mexico City Bus rapid transit Guadalajara Macrobus Metrobús of Mexico City Leon (Guanajuato) Optibus Mexibús Multimodal operating authorities Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos (Mexico City) Other transport "Pesero"