Transport in Lima
Encyclopedia
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s, and the so-called mototaxis. Micros are the most common means of public transportation in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
and many other cities in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. There are also more than 100 km of cycle paths in the city.
The word micro is used in common-day Peruvian Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as an abbreviation for microbus (minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
). While the bigger vehicles are known as micros, the smaller ones are known as either combis or micros. These privately-owned vehicles are not only known for being very cheap and convenient but also for being rather risky.
Micros race from one street corner to another along all the major arterial city road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s. Stickers saying, for example, "Todo Arequipa" or "Todo Benavides" can be seen on their windscreens, which indicates that the micro runs the whole length of Avenida Arequipa or Avenida Benavides. These microbuses dash dangerously fast, frequently crashing and speeding off before their passengers have got both feet into the vehicle. There being few bus stops, micros and combis pick and drop passengers anywhere along their route (although it is not allowed). Tickets became compulsory in the late-80s. No transfer tickets are issued, so double fares are often used by people when a micro passing through downtown does not go to the destination needed, although with the lack of control of routes nowadays there are many routes that go just about everywhere within the city limits. The only places where micros are no longer allowed to circulate is in the crosstown streets within downtown Lima
Lima District
Lima is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is not where the inner city zone of Lima, the country's capital city, is located, San Isidro District being such area in Lima....
: if you need to go from the West Side to the East Side you must walk or take a taxi (see below), and micros go north-south only through either the West or East sides' main arteries, Tacna Ave. and Abancay Ave. respectively.
Pollution
There are approximately 60 000 micros in Lima. A lot of them are old school buses brought from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or native-made bus bodies fitted to truck chassis engines. A few richer transportation companies use modern bodies made in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
or Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Smaller companies use smaller vehicles such as minibuses (e.g. Toyota Coaster
Toyota Coaster
The Toyota Coaster is a minibus produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. It was introduced in 1969, with the second generation introduced in 1982, followed by the third generation in 1993...
s) and minivans.
Since almost all of these vehicles are poorly maintained, they produce a great amount of pollution. Statistics show that in July 2001, the amount of nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula it is one of several nitrogen oxides. is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year. This reddish-brown toxic gas has a characteristic sharp, biting odor and is a prominent...
(NO2) was of 236.66 mg/m³, the maximum allowable quantity being 100 mg/m³ . The presence of small particles of different materials (dust, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and other metals), was also high during this month: 294.12 mg/m³, while the allowed limit is 150 mg/m³ .
Vehicles
The most popular vehicle types used by the small micros (combis) are Toyota HiAceToyota Hiace
The Toyota HiAce is a motor vehicle produced by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota. First launched in 1967, the HiAce has since been available in a wide range of configurations, including minivan and minibus, van, pick-up, taxi, and ambulance....
and Nissan Urvan microbuses, while the bigger micros are usually Toyota Coaster
Toyota Coaster
The Toyota Coaster is a minibus produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. It was introduced in 1969, with the second generation introduced in 1982, followed by the third generation in 1993...
or Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa
Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa
The Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa is a minibus built by Mitsubishi Fuso.In Japan, Asia-Pacific, Mid-East, Africa, and South America, its principal competitors are the Isuzu Journey, Nissan Civilian, and Toyota Coaster.-Body types:...
vehicles. A few older bus lines from the pre-combi era use large forty-odd year old buses.
Routes
All routes can be found on TransporteLima.com
Some of the routes in the Lima and Callao Metropolitan Area are:
- AteAte DistrictAte, also known as Ate-Vitarte, is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Located in the eastern part of the province, it is one of the districts that comprise the city of Lima.-Geography:The district has a total land area of 77.72 km²...
- CallaoCallaoCallao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
(Routes CR20; CR25; CR57; CR71; CR75; IM04; IM24; IM31; IM33; IM40; IO01; IO04; IO27; IO61; IO64; IO67; IO81 and IO88) - CarabaylloCarabaylloCarabayllo is one of the 43 districts of the province Lima in Peru. It is located in the Cono Norte area of the province and was founded by General José de San Martín in August 1821 at which time it was the only district to occupy the area north of the Rímac River up to the province Canta.-...
- MirafloresMiraflores District, LimaMiraflores is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Known for its shopping areas, gardens, flower-filled parks and beaches, it is one of the upscale districts that make up the city of Lima....
(Routes NO03 and NO99) - CarabaylloCarabaylloCarabayllo is one of the 43 districts of the province Lima in Peru. It is located in the Cono Norte area of the province and was founded by General José de San Martín in August 1821 at which time it was the only district to occupy the area north of the Rímac River up to the province Canta.-...
- PachacámacPachacamac DistrictThe Pachacamac District is one of 43 districts of the Lima Province in Peru. The capital of the district is the village of Pachacamac. Its main asset is the archaeological Inca site Pachacamac.-History:...
(Route EM01) - Chorrillos - Ventanilla (Route IO03)
- La PuntaLa PuntaLa Punta is a district of the Constitutional Province of Callao in Peru, and one of the six districts that make up the port city of Callao.It is located in a peninsula in the western part of the province and is almost entirely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, except on its northeastern side, where...
- PachacámacPachacamac DistrictThe Pachacamac District is one of 43 districts of the Lima Province in Peru. The capital of the district is the village of Pachacamac. Its main asset is the archaeological Inca site Pachacamac.-History:...
(Routes IO57; IO75; OM57 and OM62) - San BartoloSan Bartolo DistrictSan Bartolo is a district in southern Lima Province in Peru. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the district of Punta Negra on the north, the Huarochirí Province on the east, and the Santa María del Mar District on the south....
- San MiguelSan Miguel District, LimaSan Miguel, is a district in western Lima, Peru. It is bordered by the districts of Bellavista and downtown Lima on the north; Pueblo Libre, Magdalena del Mar and downtown Lima on the east; the Pacific Ocean on the south; and the La Perla district on the west....
(Routes SO16 and SO18) - San Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de Miraflores is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is located in the Cono Sur area of the city of Lima.Officially established as a district on January 12, 1965, the current mayor of San Juan de Miraflores is Edilberto Quispe Rodriguez...
- CarabaylloCarabaylloCarabayllo is one of the 43 districts of the province Lima in Peru. It is located in the Cono Norte area of the province and was founded by General José de San Martín in August 1821 at which time it was the only district to occupy the area north of the Rímac River up to the province Canta.-...
(Routes NM24; NM33 and SO20) - San Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de Miraflores is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is located in the Cono Sur area of the city of Lima.Officially established as a district on January 12, 1965, the current mayor of San Juan de Miraflores is Edilberto Quispe Rodriguez...
- Downtown LimaLima DistrictLima is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is not where the inner city zone of Lima, the country's capital city, is located, San Isidro District being such area in Lima....
(Routes SCR08 and SCR35) - San Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de MirafloresSan Juan de Miraflores is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is located in the Cono Sur area of the city of Lima.Officially established as a district on January 12, 1965, the current mayor of San Juan de Miraflores is Edilberto Quispe Rodriguez...
- San Juan de LuriganchoSan Juan de LuriganchoSan Juan de Lurigancho is a district in Lima, Peru, located in the area known as Cono Este. It is sometimes referred to as simple "SJL" on various forms of transportation...
(Routes EM05; EO07; EO65 and SM24) - Santa AnitaSanta Anita DistrictSanta Anita is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is part of city of Lima.Officially established as a district on October 25, 1989 from parts of Ate and El Agustino separated by the Rio Surco, a ditch which went all the way to Santiago de Surco. The current mayor of Santa Anita is Osiris...
- La Molina (Route EM17) - Santiago de SurcoSantiago de SurcoSantiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north by the districts of La Molina, Ate and San Borja; on the south by Chorrillos; on the east by La Molina, Villa María del Triunfo and San Juan de Miraflores; and on the west by San Borja,...
- AncónAncón DistrictAncón is a district of northern Lima Province in Peru. It is a popular beach resort, visited every summer by hundreds of people from Lima.Officially established as a district on October 29, 1874, the current mayor of Ancón is Jaime Jesús Pajuelo Torres. The district's postal code is...
(Route NO02) - Santiago de SurcoSantiago de SurcoSantiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north by the districts of La Molina, Ate and San Borja; on the south by Chorrillos; on the east by La Molina, Villa María del Triunfo and San Juan de Miraflores; and on the west by San Borja,...
- San Isidro (Route SCR10) - Santiago de SurcoSantiago de SurcoSantiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north by the districts of La Molina, Ate and San Borja; on the south by Chorrillos; on the east by La Molina, Villa María del Triunfo and San Juan de Miraflores; and on the west by San Borja,...
- Downtown LimaLima DistrictLima is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is not where the inner city zone of Lima, the country's capital city, is located, San Isidro District being such area in Lima....
(Routes SCR25 and SM31) - Villa el SalvadorVilla El SalvadorVilla El Salvador is an urban, largely residential district on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. It borders the district of Chorrillos on the east; the Pacific Ocean on the southwest; Lurín on the southeast; Villa María del Triunfo on the east and San Juan de Miraflores on the north.- History :It began...
- San Juan de LuriganchoSan Juan de LuriganchoSan Juan de Lurigancho is a district in Lima, Peru, located in the area known as Cono Este. It is sometimes referred to as simple "SJL" on various forms of transportation...
(Routes EM37; EM43; EO17; EO25; EO65A; EO65B; SO11 and SO30)
This is not an exhaustive list and only provides a few examples of micro routes.
Some older routes –generally those not using combi
Combi
In commercial aviation, the term combi refers to versions of various aircraft that can be used for either passenger, as an airliner would, or cargo duties, as a freighter would, and often have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at once...
s or similar-sized vehicles– can be defined by their old numbering until the early 1990s. The old route number is usually prominently displayed on the "passenger" side of the front window, as a backward reference. Many modern routes, however, lack this number. Old route numbers still well known (as of 2007) are # 2 (route IO35), 6 (route SO13), 8 (route EO21), 9 (routes EO64 and IO33), 23 (routes EO17; EO18 and EO101), 31 (route SO28), 39 (route SO20), 45 (routes EO107; IO43 and IO46), 48 (route IO53), 60, 66, 71 (routes IO63 and IO64), 91 (routes EM40 and EO26), 94 (route IO65), 102 (routes CR52 and IO79), 104 (routes EM35 and EO20), 148 (route NM32), and 150.
If one company branches out into many routes (generally overlapping at the center of the route) the different routes may be differentiated by letters: 104A, 104B, 104C, and so on, for instance. 104A (This route isn't available) goes from Penal section of San Juan de Lurigancho to San Miguel
San Miguel District, Lima
San Miguel, is a district in western Lima, Peru. It is bordered by the districts of Bellavista and downtown Lima on the north; Pueblo Libre, Magdalena del Mar and downtown Lima on the east; the Pacific Ocean on the south; and the La Perla district on the west....
via the East Side of downtown; 104B (route EM35) goes from Mangomarca section of SJL (the original terminus) to San Miguel via the East Side; and 104C (route EO20) goes from Mangomarca to Miraflores
Miraflores District, Lima
Miraflores is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Known for its shopping areas, gardens, flower-filled parks and beaches, it is one of the upscale districts that make up the city of Lima....
, via the West Side.
Combi culture
The kombi operates within the districts of LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, mainly; Kombi is an abbreviation of the German word Kombinationfahrzeug. The term was originally used to designate Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
pickup introduced in the 1950s, they now come in several brands.
In the 1990s, during the government of the president Alberto Fujimori, it was established that the number of buses were not enough to transport people around the city, and the use of secondhand automobiles (mostly kombis) from others countries was permitted. Kombi accidents in metropolitan Lima account for 45% of all accidents.
Taxis
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They vary in sizes from small four door compacts (generally Korean Daewoo Tico
Daewoo Tico
The Daewoo Tico is a city car produced by the Korean automaker Daewoo from 1991 to 2001.The Tico was based on the 1988 Suzuki Alto. The car was equipped with a three-cylinder 796 cc S-TEC engine and had a five-speed manual transmission or three-speed automatic transmission. The Tico was...
s) to large vans capable of transporting many pieces of luggage from the airport to your destination. They are virtually everywhere, accounting for a large part of the car stock. Often they are just any random car with a taxi sticker on the windshield. As in other major cities the way to flag them down is to wave your hand up high. Also much more expensive but more secure and professional are the Taxi Seguro's which you call up. They pick you up in their company cars. There are many different Taxi Seguro companies in Lima.
Taxis will take you virtually anywhere in the city. You can tell them to take you to a certain hotel, tourist destination, or mall and they will probably know how to get there. Citizens of Lima commonly joke that they have the most educated taxi drivers in the world. The joke is based on the fact that taxi-running is a major source of income for unemployed or under-employed people, including professionals with a university degree who either rent or own the cars they drive. A whole economy spreads from investments in vehicle acquisition to be later rented as taxi cabs.
Taxis are the most efficient and fastest way of transportation in Lima, however they are also considered somewhat risky since some criminals disguise as taxi drivers and steal from the confident passenger at gunpoint later on. An indication of the security of the Taxi is to check if it has the label of the Setame on the windshield, which stands for Servicio de Taxi Metropolitano, the administrative authority that regulates taxi cabs. Setame taxis are in most cases painted in a distinctive yellow colour. Taxis without the Setame label are considered to be informal and risky.
Mototaxis and pedicabs are used in peripheral districts such as Puente Piedra and Comas where there isn't larger traffic, although with the spread of urbanization and routes they are losing ground to regular micros.
Metro (Urban Train)
In 2010 the current government of Alan García retakes the project of Lima Metro starting with the construction of Line 1. The construction and implementation of 11.7 kilometres (7.3 mi) (with a total of 22.5 kilometres (14.0 mi)) of viaduct elevated of double ramp from the Atocongo Bridge to downtown Lima. The Lima Metro Line 1 is being built by a consortium made up by two engineering and construction companies. It is estimated by December 2010 the end of the civil works, remaining just the electrification of the line, which is in charge of Siemens. This first part of Line 1 must be completed at June 2011 and starts daily operations in July 2011.
Metropolitano
The Metropolitan Transportation System is a transport project which plans to integrate the Independent Corridor of Mass-Transit Buses known by its Spanish initials as (COSAC 1). This system links the principal points of the Lima Metropolitan AreaLima Metropolitan Area
The Lima Metropolitan Area , is an area formed by the conurbation of the Peruvian cities of Lima and Callao. It is the largest metropolitan area in Peru, the eighth largest in the Americas, and among the thirty largest in the world. The conurbation process started to be evident in the 1980s. The...
and the first phase of this project has thirty three kilometer long line from the north of the city to Chorrillos in the south of the city. This system is similar to the TransMilenio
TransMilenio
TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. The system opened to the public in December 2000, covering Av. Caracas and Calle 80...
of Bogota
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Air transport
Lima is served by the Jorge Chavez International AirportJorge Chávez International Airport
Jorge Chávez International Airport , known as Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Spanish, is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, 11 kilometers from the Historic Centre of Lima and 17 km from Miraflores. Callao is the port city now fully...
, located in Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
. It is the largest airport of the country with the largest amount of domestic and international air traffic. It also serves as a major hub in the Latin American air network. Additionally, Lima possesses five other airports: the Las Palmas Air Force Base, Collique Airport, and runways in Santa María del Mar, San Bartolo
San Bartolo District
San Bartolo is a district in southern Lima Province in Peru. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the district of Punta Negra on the north, the Huarochirí Province on the east, and the Santa María del Mar District on the south....
and Chilca
Chilca
Chilca was a rocket launch site in Peru at , near to Lima. Chilca was in service from 1974 and 1983 and was mainly used for launching Arcas and Nike rockets....
.