Public transport in Medellin
Getting around Medellin
Medellin has one of the most modern public transport systems in the world. It has been built over the past 20 years, and some parts are not even a decade old yet at the time of writing. There are several metro lines, buses, a tram and cable cars.
Taking the metro in Medellin
The metro system in Medellin works in the same way as anywhere in the world. You have several lines and an easy-to-follow map. In order to take the metro, you will need a Civica Card which you can get at any ticket machine inside the metro stations. At the time of writing, those ticket machines only accept cash. The card you get there is called “Civica Eventual”. If you want a personalised card, you will need to go to a specific ticket office with your passport. That personalised card is replaceable, and you get a discounted rate for certain routes, e.g. taking the cable car to Parque Arvi. In most cases though, the card that you get at the ticket machine is sufficient for travellers. The card itself costs COP 12.000.
The fares vary depending on the means of transport. For the metro and the cable cars, it is COP 5000 (approximately GBP 1.10), for buses between COP 2000 and 3000 (around 40 to 70 pence) whereas the fare changes if you take the metro and a bus as part of the same journey. (There are special fares for the cable car to Parque Arvi which costs around GBP 6). You only need to tap in at the turnstiles, not out. That means that multiple people can travel on the same card in Medellin. Simply tap the card for each person separately. In the busses, you can pay cash, however, the metro card is the preferred option.
A few things are different on the metro in Medellin compared to other cities: backpacks are generally carried in front of the chest, not put on the floor. During peak times, the metro gets very busy and it can be very difficult to get on or off the train. Charlie tried to avoid travelling at peak time. (Road traffic too got very busy at those times.)
In case you need to get somewhere a bit further away from a metro station, there are connections to a bus line called MetroPlus. Charlie only tried to catch this bus once though and it was a peak time. The queue was so long that she would have walked home faster. She got an Uber Moto instead to save some time.
Uber in Medellin
Uber is available in Medellin and is a very convenient way to travel around. You should know though that Uber operates in a grey area and the yellow taxi drivers often resent Uber. Charlie has not experienced any taxi aggression but heard it from other travellers. For that reason, you should get in the Uber at the passenger seat. The driver might ask you to do that if you forget.
