by Dylan Kelemen
Santiago has a subway and bus system just like a lot of other big cities around the world. But, the Santiago metro/bus system is huge. You can go from the farthest northern part of the city to the farthest southern part of the city on one metro train, or travel to other towns by bus.
There are currently five active metro lines covering 64 miles of track and including 108 stops, and they are building Line #6. Almost everywhere I go, I see multiple buses and each bus stop often has five or six bus lines that run through it.
Tons of people use the metro system, crowding buses and trains everywhere. The metro line alone has 2.4 million riders per day. In the eastern most part of the city where I have soccer practice on Tuesday and Thursday, buses fill up so much that you wouldn’t think that any more people could fit. But people eager to get to their destination are aggressive and keep pushing.
The metro system is super fast and reliable, getting you where you need to go at almost any time of day. Interestingly, the fare is dependent on the time you travel. The cost is higher during rush hours (6:00am to 8:00am, and 5:30pm to 8:00pm).
In our neighborhood, we have a small metro stop that is a 5-minute walk from our house. There are also buses running along the big streets going into the city center where you can catch the metro at various larger stops. We mostly choose to walk, bike, or take public transit instead of paying for a cab because the taxis cost more than the fare and they get tangled up in traffic during rush hour. I’m lucky to have a school bus that is door-to-door. But some kids have to take a bus to the metro, and then another bus just to get to a school bus stop.
Tomorrow is our first day of school . . . and more on that next week from Adela.
Thoughts on getting around from Adela: One thing I noticed immediately at the metro station was how crowded it was. People pushing eachother, trying to get to the door, it’s a mad house. It’s the same with the buses. One time I was trying to get on the bus every one was pushing and pulling. The woman next to us said, “They are like animals!” and I have to say, “She has a point.”
Thoughts on getting around from Jeannette: Adela, Dylan and I left the house during the pre-dawn rush hour to get them to Santiago College for Day Two of their evaluations. We walked from our apartment three blocks to catch a crowded bus 14-blocks to the metro line. One stop east and directions from a few people got us to the the first and only stop in Providencia of the express bus to Lo Barnechea (where the school is located). So far so good. But it was a bit of a mad house at the stop once the next bus arrived as men and women jockeyed for a seat to avoid standing for the 30-minute ride. As I considered how best to ensure the children and I could safely board the bus I caught a woman’s eye and asked if people were always so aggressive. She nodded in disgust and replied, “They are animals!” The ride turned out to be fine, albeit crowded. The same woman chatted with me along the ride and made sure we wouldn’t miss our stop. When I thanked her for her friendliness and help she remarked, “A kind gesture never costs a thing.” So true. Later that day we took a different bus back to Providencia. We weren’t traveling during rush hour and were glad to have seats. And we enjoyed the talent of two guitarists who boarded the bus to earn some cash entertaining riders with really great jams from various artists, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd among them. When authorities boarded the bus to check that everyone had paid their fare the vibe completely changed. It was hard to track everyone’s comments — Chileans speak fast and cut off lots of word endings — but most folks voiced their annoyance that the fare check imposed a delay half a block from where most of them (and we) would disembark. Others defended the musicians from hopping on the bus without paying a fare because they were simply working to earn a living. And some defended the officials who were also only just doing their job. I’d venture to say that nearly everyone but us commented in one way or another. People were not at all shy voicing their opinions — though I couldn’t really gauge how peoples’ comments rated on the civility meter. Between the physical contest boarding our outbound bus and the verbal ping-pong on our inbound bus, we definitely got some insights into the Chilean commuting experience. And it made signing up for the private school bus service for the kids an easy and straight-forward choice.
Thoughts on getting around from Matt: We don’t have a car and we probably won’t need one. That, I think, is a good thing.