Transportation in Mexico
I thought that I should tell you some of the modes of local transportation that are used here and how they work:
1. Subway: May cost about 2 pesos. I do not have a picture of this but Mexico City I am told has one of the cleanest and best run subways in the world.
2. Trains: You can buy I am told an all day pass for about 15 pesos. These are found again in Mexico City and the surrounding suburbs and are really fast and quite good to take if you are a tourist.
3. Buses between Cities: These are usually Mercedes or Volvo buses which are like our large Grayhound buses but there are several competing companies (Del Norte, PAN?, etc).
4. Inner City Buses: Usually cost about 5 pesos (40 cents). Somewhat small than the other busses and they drive as I said very fast and stop in the street often without pulling over very much to pick up there passengers. We have traveled on these and they do a remarkably good job.
5. Collectivos: These are small mini vans and they compete with the buses. They will often cram 20 people in one of these small vans so it is not a mode of transportation that we have taken.
6. Cabs: Usually the size of a small 4 door Toyota and always with a stick shift they are often economical to take and get you where you want to go with the least amount of hassel.
7. Rickshaw motorbikes: These we saw in the tourist areas and small towns along the outer banks on the Gulf of Mexico near Ciudad del Carmen. They were essentially a motorcycle with either a trailer for passengers or the passenger part a part of the vehicle.
8. Our RV, Big Tigre: Very comfortable to drive in on the tole roads but also expensive. We get about 8.5 mpg and the toles are an added expense (450 pesos for about 125 miles).
9. Our scooter, Blue Boy: he is very economical about 50-65 mpg and easy to park. Not so comfortable to ride for a long period of time.