World City Guide

Getting Around

Public Transport
The sheer size of Mexico City and make getting around seem a daunting prospect, however, the city has a comprehensive and cheap public transport system. The best method of travelling is the modern, efficient and easy to use metro. 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 direccin (direction); when changing trains, transfers are marked Correspondencia. During rush hour the carriages get very crowded and in the central areas are so busy that the crowds stretch back from the platform into the corridors and should be avoided; between 1800 and 2100 Solo Mujeres y Nios (women and children only) carriages operate.

The tren ligero runs entirely above ground south from Tasquea ground to Xochimilco, it operates a different ticket system to the metro, but like the metro is fast, efficient and, to a lesser extent prone to overcrowding.

Municipally run Ruta-100 buses display their routes on the windscreen and are reasonably clean and efficient. 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 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. The green and white Volkswagen Beetles are the most ubiquitous of these. All unlicensed taxis should be avoided - in recent years, there has been a rise in taxi crime and violent assaults, robberies and rapes have been reported.

From the airport and main bus terminals, fixed-price Transportacin Terrestre or autorizado (authorised) taxis operate. 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.

Although the system of cab licensing and advance purchase tickets has sought to address the problem of taxi crime it has been known for criminals to hang around in unlicensed cabs at the official taxi rank, complete with false identification. After purchasing the ticket it should be stamped with the ID of the taxi and half returned to you, if the process deviates from this at all, the porter seems over helpful or if you have any suspicions – don’t get in the cab.

Radio taxis are more expensive but 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) 5519 7690) and Taxi Autotransportes (tel: (55) 5398 9641).

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 Perifrico, 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 (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 pblico (supervised public car parks) are recommended and cheap. In the Centro Histrico, there are several public car parks south of Avenida Madero. 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) 5282 0195 or (55) 5588 8888, general reservations; website: www.avis.com.mx); Budget, Athenas 40, Jurez (tel: (55) 5566 6800, general reservations; e-mail: reservaciones@budget.com.mx; website: www.budget.com.mx); Hertz, Versailles 6, Jurez (tel: (55) 5592 8343; website: www.hertz.com.mx); and Thrifty, Avenida Campos Eliseos 199B, Polanco or Paseo de la Reforma 322, Jurez (tel: (55) 5207 1100/08; website: www.thrifty.com.mx).

Bicycle Hire
Bicycles can be hired from Avenida Heroico Colegio Militar, in the primera seccin of Chapultepec Park.