Getting around

I was pretty shocked to see that Mexico DF has a bicycle-sharing program. It's just such a large, congested, and sort of frightening city that I can't imagine anyone biking around it. The EcoBici program is almost a year old and only in select (re:posh) areas of the city. I didn't really see anyone using them, except for on Sunday on the car-free avenues as recreational vehicles.



The city is also in the midst of installing miles of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with dedicated lanes. I suppose if you're the largest city in the Americas, you need to be doing this sort of stuff.

walking the dog

sidewalk sitting

the bicycle car

The bicycle car on the municipal rail in Buenos Aires is fascinating. If you ever get on one of these trains, bypass the cars with seats and go searching for the big, empty car with people perched at the windows. Of course the bicycle car also doubles as the smoking car. This in itself is not that unusual. On the way out from the city center, the bicycle car was basically empty and there were some guys nonchalantly smoking a joint. On the way back into the city, the car was pretty packed--people sitting on the floor, sleeping, reading newspapers, having coffee--and there was a different group of guys smoking a joint, unmolested, on the crowded train. The only person giving them weird/curious looks was me. This impressed me beyond belief.