Cablebús Línea 2

The Lionel-Industrial Complex would have you believe that trains are the singular solution to public transportation, and while a quaint light rail route is lovely and fun — ding, ding! — they are still expensive and difficult to build. Even bus rapid transit requires wide roadways and no pesky mountains. Thus, in some countries in the Americas, the rise of the aerial cable car. These latter-day ski gondolas are relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to build (less than two years it appears) and work in the trickiest of terrains — not to mention they take traffic off the overloaded streets in these far-flung neighborhoods and reduce travel times exponentially for residents. In Mexico City this summer two such lines debuted. The first was north of the center city and the second, Cablebús Línea 2, serves neighborhoods to the south and east:

Also, THEY’RE AMAZING TO RIDE. In Mexico City, the brand-new Cablebús Línea 2 departs from the end of the number 8 subway line and flies into the hills high above the city — it’s mesmerizing watching the scenes below — you are like a drone flying over them. I don’t know how I’d feel living under a ski gondola but as a passenger it’s well worth the trip; in our six-person car there were ourselves, a tourist from Colombia and two local retirees who were just there to take it all in. Highly recommended.

We bonded with the fellow passengers in our car and eventually they finally successfully impressed upon me (what with my terrible Spanish comprehension) that these airplanes sitting in the middle of these parks are libraries!