In Mexico City the easiest way for me to move around is on the Metro. It has a lot of lines and it mostly moves in a north-south direction, although there are some lines that go east-west. When I first arrived and was living with a frien
d on the outskirts of town it took about an hour and a half to get home at night. The Metro costs 2 pesos (about 20 cents). It takes me about 50 minutes to get to work. I take the Metro, a pesero, and I walk the last ten minutes.Sometimes you wind up in the Metro during the "hora pico" or rush hour. That is a trip that you won't forget. You are overcome by the huge amounts of people winding their way through the Metro tunnels. The large groups of people seem to be moving like a non stop river. Most people are in a hurry to get home.
During the hora pico the Metro cars are filled like sardines with people. I stand on the side and watch people cramming themselves into the car and everyone seems to be smashed up against the doors and windows. Once I saw a woman make it into the car successfully but her purse was left outside trapped in between the doors. I also saw a man wiggle his way in only for the doors to close, leaving his hiney out for all the world to see.
When the Metro is packed with people it is amazingly quiet inside of the cars. Everyone stands there calmly and they do not get upset or act annoyed. I personally almost go crazy from claustrophobia and I try to avoid the Metro during rush hour. Once I saw a shorter man standing with his head placed tenderly in the arm pit of another man. He stood there quietly accepting his fate.
I am surprised at the calm demeanor of the passengers and of their patience.
There are also vendedores that get onto the cars. Some are selling music that blasts from their stereo/backpack. The CDs cost 10 pesos (about one dollar). I have also seen people selling stickers, kleenex, pens, candy, and DVDs that they show on a video screen they carry around.
If the Metro ever seems too packed to enter, you can always wait for the next one. They come quite frequently. And the key is to walk all the way down to the end of the walkway because the cars at the end usually have less people in them. During the rush hour there are separate cars for women and children so as to separate them from the men because it really does get to be quite close quarters.
I live in a neighborhood right off of the Metro line and I get off on the green line (line 3) at a stop called Viveros (look on the southern part of the map). I get off for work on the green line at a stop called Eugenia. http://www.zonu.com/mapas_mexico/m_metro_mexico_dfx.htm
And if you are ever on a crowded Metro you have to be on constant lookout for an empty seat. I stand hovering around the comfortably seated people until they get up to get off at their stop. You have to move fast to grab a seat because everyone else is waiting too. It is definitely more comfy to ride sitting down. Of course you must give your seat up to the elderly, or to the women that get on carrying a small child.
Beware if you are on a crowded Metro and you see an empty seat with people standing around it. Usually it is empty for a reason. I learned that the hard way - I traversed the length of the Metro to grab a curiously empty seat and when I finally sat down I realized why it was empty - there was a piece of human feces on the seat beside it. I remained seated beside the poo because I am stubborn like that.
If you can't get to where you want to go on the Metro you can walk it, or you can take the peseros (busses) which usually go east and west. They, however, are an entirely different adventure and an entirely different story.
