Saturday, August 12, 2006

Creative Mass Transit

Medellin has the only metro system in Colombia. The trains and stations are impressively clean, fast, smooth, and efficient. Any Antioqueno will tell you it is the best system in the world. I had my doubts, but you know, they could be right. I have been on metros in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Boston and this one was the best. The creative part is that they have installed gondola systems that take people from the main train lines up the mountain side to neighborhoods that are built along the hills. Sounds hokey but it works. These gondola-served neighbors have completely turned around. They used to be poor and crime-ridden. Now they are much cleaner, crime is down, and property values are way up (admittedly from a low base). Still, it has been a very successful experiment in how a solid mass transit system can turn around a community. Posted by Picasa

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