There are many Mexico City public transportation you can use. But as a tourist there are only few that we should know.
Let me show you how to use it and at what situations.
Best Mexico City Public Transportation that You Need to Know as Tourist
First thing first. Mexico public transportation that is recommended are :
- Metro
- ECOBICO (like city bike)
- Uber
The reason these are the best public transportation is :
- The most transportation we used were Uber and ECOBICO
- The best part about Uber is that it is reasonable.
- ECOBICO is easy to use and don’t have to stress out about traffic
- With bad traffic, sometimes Metro is much easier and faster
- There are some blog posts recommending Metro buses, but we never needed it and it can be confusing with not being sure when to get off
Is it safe to take metro in Mexico City?
In short. It is safe.
I actually felt a lot safer than Paris or L.A.
I felt more scared riding subways in L.A., and safer in Mexico City. It is our perception of Mexico to feel like Mexico city public transportation is dangerous.
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Of course you should be aware of your surrounding of pickpockets and don’t need to carry around your Gucci bag.
During rush hour, it can be suffocating (7:30AM – 9:00AM / 5:00PM – 8:00PM), so try to avoid during this time.
If you are solo woman traveler, you can get the first section of the train which is woman / children only section.
Types of Mexico City Public Transportation
There are 7 public transportations you can use in Mexico City. But I think metro is the only we really need.
All the others we don’t (maybe metrobus, but we never needed it during our 8 day trip).
Cable bus looks interesting, but apparently it is very far out in a bit dangerous area.
How to Use Mexico City Metro
First, just find signs that look like that below pictures I took.
The cost of metro is 5 pesos.
The metro inside looks like this. Very spacious and clean.
You can get your tickets at “Taquilla.” If you buy it with a clerk, you will need cash.
Or you can buy a metro pass like me.
I wanted to have the metro card as a souvenir, so I used a machine.
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When you first buy the card, the minimum is 20 pesos (15 pesos for the card).
1. If you are using the machine, just press “BUY CARD” or “COMPRE”
It will ask you to pay 20 pesos (obviously).
3. If you put the money (card), you will get your metro card
4. Like any other metro, all you need to do is tap
5. You don’t need to tap out like some of other cities’ metro.
How Does Mexico City Metro Looks Like?
Metro looks like this below.
When Is It Advantageous to Ride Metro in Mexico City?
I think most of the time, riding Uber or going on a group tour is easier.
But when you go to Zocalo, I highly recommend metro.
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For us, going to Zocalo from Roma on Uber was a nightmare, cause every block took 15 minutes.
So we took metro coming back with our drunk ass, and it was so much faster and easier.
Like below image, you can get Juarez (Line 3) , Isabel La Catolica (Line 1), San Juan De Letran (Line 8), Zocalo 역 (Line 2 closest to Zocalo).
I was passing by the Metro bus so I took some picture maybe just in case we ride it.
But we actually never used it and didn’t need to.
ECOBICO
If you are staying around Roma or Juarez, ECOBICO will be the best public transportation.
It is just like city bike in NY or Santander in London.
All you have to do is download the mobile app and register. You can download the app here.
You can choose either 1 day / 3 day / 7 day (count as 24 hours).
Then find a place that has bikes. You can see it on the mobile app.
Then all you need to do it QR code it ride the bike.
Few things you should know.
You can use upto 45 minutes with no extra charge
after 45 minutes, 45 – 60 minutes will be extra 25 pesos. and after that every hour will be 50 pesos.
And after 24 hours, you will be charged like crazy amount of fee.
The best part about ECOBICO was on the weekends they block Angel of Independence road for bikes.
We roamed around the streets of Mexico city and it was so much fun.
If you are not sure about how to use it they also have information centres, especially in Juarez area where lots of tourists hang around.
Uber
People say it is not safe to get a taxi cause they can mug you.
So we just took uber most of the time, and it is cheap.