Metrobus Line 5 Unveiled Today at a Press Conference in Mexico City.

Today marked the official unveiling of the new Metrobus line which will be known as Line Number 5. At a press conference today on Mexico City’s Zocolo, the head of city government, Miguel Angel Mancera, announced the construction of the new line which will be the first in Mexico City to incorporate a “Complete Streets” design. As with most complete streets, the new line will integrate public transit, pedestrian circulation and bike routes. The new route will also accommodate a separate route for large trucks in order to improve traffic flow. In addition the city will construct hanging/vertical gardens and plant numerous trees along the new route which are meant to lessen the impacts of pollution.

The route will run from Rio de los Remedios in the north part of the city and end at the San Lazaro Metro Station in the center of the City. This is important because San Lazaro is the location of the TAPO bus station which ia one of the largest regional/national bus stations in the city, providing yet another level of connectivity for transit users. You can see the map of Route 5 in the graphic below.



Due to of the construction of this new line, many smaller, more polluting buses will be taken out of circulation. It is expected that the construction of the new Metrobus line will result in the removal of over 122,000 tons of pollution annually from the city’s notoriously polluted air, thus providing a cleaner and safer solution for Mexico City commuters and residents alike. According to city statistics, the new route is also projected to provide a 40% reduction in travel time based on today’s traffic counts.

The Secretary of Construction, Luis Albert Rabago, indicated that the total investment in the new project will cost 800 million pesos (64.7 million U.S. dollars) and benefit over 50,000 users per day. The new line will run more than 10 kilometers and will consist of 18 state of the art stations, which will be constructed using prefabricated modules which will save construction time and control costs on the project’s installation. Below is a photo of the model of a new station which was presented at today’s press conference.



The announcement of this line is the first on many more which are expected to be constructed across the city in the next several years. The first phase of this new line is expected to be operational within the next six months. Expect more information to be posted here as the construction of more lines are announced.