Mexico City Opens Second BRT Corridor

Posted: 21 Dec 2008

Related to: Mexico City Center Revitalization, Developing High-Quality, Low-Cost Mass Transit, Mexico
Contributed by: Bernardo Baranda

The second line of MetroBus, the bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Mexico City, was inaugurated on December 16, 2008. This new corridor runs for 20 kilometers on Eje 4 Sur, a street which crosses the first line running on Insurgentes Avenue.  It will serve more than 100,000 passengers a day and has 34 stations and two terminals, located at Tacubaya and Tepalcates.  Although Eje 4 is a one-way street, the BRT corridor runs buses in both directions in the median.



Nuevo Leon Station divides the one way car traffic.  Source: Bernardo Baranda

Operations started with 71 brand new articulated buses. These Euro IV buses will take 300 old microbuses off the streets, saving more than 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to local authorities.

Passengers are saving time as the buses are not stuck in congestion anymore.  Passengers are also paying less for their total commute since they do not have to pay to transfer between the two lines.  The system was criticized for taking too long to implement the second corridor, as well as not making improvements in the overall corridor, such in the sidewalks, green areas and landscaping, and lighting.



The sidewalks remain unfinished near the Viaducto Station. Source: Bernardo Baranda

MetroBus is a crucial element of the city’s strategy for improving the quality of life for its citizens.  Elected in 2006, the new administration, led by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, committed to building 10 new lines by 2012. So far, in two years, two lines have been constructed.  In a city where congestion gets worse every day due to increasing car ownership, the demands and expectations for fulfilling that promise quickly are high.  Eje 3 Oriente and Periferico have already been studied and announced as the probable next lines of the MetroBus system.

CTS Mexico, EMBARQ - The WRI Centre for Sustain Transport, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy are among the organizations supporting the government’s public transportation improvements.



The entrance of the Viaducto Stations has excellent pedestrian access. Source: Bernardo Baranda