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Medellin implements 24 hour bus service

By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director

Friday, April 16, 2010

Medellin will become the first city in Colombia to guarantee its residents non-stop public transport, according to an announcement recently made by Mayor Alonso Salazar.

During the following months all of the 65 bus routes in Colombia´s ‘city of eternal spring’ will start running nocturnal services from 10pm to 4am.

Riding the night buses will cost the same as the riding the evening buses (1,400 pesos) during a six month trial period during which demand for the service and operational costs will be evaluated.

 “We want the city to have a more active night life” said Mayor Salazar, adding that he was not only referring to partying, but also to promoting commercial activity, the culture as well as facilitating transport conditions for people who have to work night jobs.

Medellin´s Metro – the only subway in Colombia- operates from 4:30 am to 11pm Monday through Saturday and from 5:00 am to 10pm on Sundays and the city is also building a system of buses that will run on exclusive lanes called MetroPlus.

The night bus routes will be run by several private companies, who already run daytime bus routes, that work independently from the metro system.

Medellin is also known for pioneering a system of cable cars that are linked to subway stations and facilitate access to poor neighborhoods perched atop the city´s steep hills.