TransMilenio Buses in Bogota, Columbia.
Visiting a city in any country is exciting to think about until you get faced with finding your way around the large communities of people living in the same city. Let’s get on the know about popular transportation in Medellin and Bogota.
Well, here in Columbia it is not any different, but the people in corroboration with the government have got you covered as you prepare to travel to Bogota or Medellin.
We will highlight the different means of navigating these large cities: Bogota and Medellin. And oh! They are not all boring I can assure you of that. We will go about the popular transportation systems in Bogota and Medellin, Columbia from bus systems, taxis, mobile transport apps, scooters, and how, where and when to use them each.
First of is the bus systems, in Bogota, the fastest is known to be the TransMilenio rapid bus transit system. It runs from 5 am to 11 pm, covering all areas of the cities with tourist sites included such as the Gold Museum, Candelaria and outskirts as Usaquen except for residential areas. To escape the hectic struggle, coming out by the early hours of between 5-8am and 3-6pm, gives you a chance to enjoy some space and with TransMilenio, you are good on a way to escape a potential traffic jam.
Medellin Metrocable.
We similarly use the Metroplus as the Medellin bus, just like TransMilenio it runs across the city and is irresponsive to pedestrians trying to wave it down in between its fixed bus stops. We also have the Metrocable and Metro, Metrocable is mostly available to residents living on the mountainsides of the city inaccessible to Metroplus. Metro across Medellin covering over 26 stations with famous tourist sites included.
Getting metro maps around the airport stands and bus stations would help you know the bus stations and routes taken by the buses.
Now taxis, in both cities of Bogota and Medellin, we have taxis and the Uber readily available but this all depends on where you’re going (if you are heading to a residential address, airport, etc) and how much in a hurry you are in. With Uber, you could look at a wait of about 5-15 minutes; it is susceptible to a traffic jam and should be around $2-5 per trip usually.
On getting a taxi in Medellin or Bogota, it should cost the same as the Uber but remember to inform the driver to turn on the meter so you could get a fair price on your ride. For security, only book company-owned taxis, a hotel or restaurant staff could help you with this. During your taxi booking, a secure code and other details (plate number, etc) of your ride is sent to you, which you have to first confirm with any ride that comes representing the company you booked with, this way you are at rest. It is important to note that it is very difficult to get one between 4:30-5:30 pm.
Now my favorite, the electric scooters! These have been the fastest way to get around the cities for a while now. With no wait time, you can ride on streets, sidewalks and just walk into stores with no need to look for a parking space and no wait time. It is even faster than the motorcycles during rush hour and for the health conscious ones; It does not cause pollution. There are scooter renting services all over, with a cost of about $0.10 for a 30 km range. These are not dumb machines offered for free. You will need an app to rent it and make payment via that platform. So there will be no hopping on these rides for free. After use, they are parked in common corners and then picked up by GPS tracking signals at night.
Be sure to prepare to use any of these means of transport and have fun while using them! And get a free Medellin Metro map around an airport stand or any of the bus stations to enjoy walking around the centers built for pedestrians in the cities.
