In Venezuela, public transport is a gondola to a barrio
| Caracas, Venezuela
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Cable cars as public transport systems are becoming increasingly fashionable in South America.
惭别诲别濒濒铆苍, Colombia opened its first line in 2006, while one is under construction in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Venezuela unveiled its own 鈥淢etrocable鈥� this year in the capital city, Caracas.
The government hopes some 15,000 residents a day will use the new gondola system to connect from San Agustin, one of Caracas鈥檚 poorest and most violent barrios, to the city鈥檚 Metro.
Already, thousands are taking advantage of it daily.
鈥淚t used to take me two hours to get to work,鈥� says Pedro Fuentes, a resident of El Manguito, where one of the gleaming glass and concrete stations was erected. 鈥淣ow I can get there in 40 minutes.鈥�
But the government hopes the 鈥淢etrocable鈥� will do more than just cut commuting hours. In 惭别诲别濒濒铆苍, the system had a transformative effect on what was one of the continent鈥檚 most dangerous shantytowns.
With that aim in mind each station of the Caracas Metrocable will act as a community hub. One will have a gymnasium added to it. Another will act as a rehearsal studio for classical orchestras.
Cable cars are an ideal transport solution for South America with its mountainous topography and cities that are often ringed by shantytowns perched on steep hills, says Hubert Klumpnik of Urban Think Tank, the Caracas-based architecture firm behind the new gondola system.
鈥淲e believe that the barrios are not mountains full of houses but rather a house the size of the mountain itself,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e know that by law a building of four floors needs an elevator and we translated that to a cable car system that would attend this 鈥榤ega building.鈥� 鈥�
But the work was not completed without criticism. It was delayed by more than a year and, at a cost $262 million, came in nearly five times over budget.
