Rapid-Transit Bus Route(s) to Be Built in Tijuana
From The San Diego Union Tribune
By Sandra Dibble
TIJUANA - "Construction of a 10.5-mile rapid-transit bus route linking the San Ysidro border to the eastern El Florido area of Tijuana is scheduled to
begin early next year, the first step of a long-awaited reform of the city's antiquated and inefficient public transportation system.
The project, known as Ruta Troncal Número 1, is expected to serve more than 120,000 residents a day. The cost is $123 million, with Mexico's federal
development bank, Banobras, contributing about 30 percent of the cost and the city of Tijuana paying an equal amount, with the remainder financed by
the private sector.
Mayor Carlos Bustamante, who signed the agreement with Banobras on Dec. 19 in Mexico City, said riders will save time and money with the new system.
The cost of riding on the rapid-transit buses will be about half of the fare for existing routes, the mayor said last week.
The new system "is a modern project, that will dignify the task of transport workers, and bring immediate benefits to Tijuana residents," the mayor
said.
The new route is being built alongside the Tijuana River channel. Because there will be no vehicle or pedestrian crossings along the bus route,
transportation "will be safer ... and faster," said Roberto Díaz García, head of Tijuana's municipal property trust. The city is planning 14
pedestrian bridges and three vehicular bridges in connection with the new route.
Work is scheduled to begin in February, and be completed at the beginning of 2014.
Bustamante has said that improving public transportation would be a priority of his administration, which ends Nov. 30, 2013. The city is currently
served by a disorganized network of buses and taxis.
The rapid transit route is one of two planned by Tijuana's municipal government. A second would start at Otay Mesa, leading southwest to the community
of Santa Fe and eventually to Rosarito Beach."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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