Transportation Within Santiago Chile
Santiago's transportation system is extensive, inexpensive and fairly modern. There are four public transportation options: the Metro, buses, colectivos and taxis.
Metro
The Metro is Santiago’s subway system. It is inexpensive, efficient and spotlessly clean. The subway reaches key areas in downtown and southern Santiago, but it does not reach boroughs on the outskirts of the city like Vitacura, Lo Barnechea, La Reina, Maipu and much of Las Condes. The Metro does not reach any boroughs north of the Mapocho River.
There are three lines that interconnect at the Santa Ana, Los Heroes and Baquedano stations. Line 1 runs east-west along the Alameda between the boroughs of Pudahuel and Las Condes. Line 2 runs from downtown at Mapocho Station to La Cisterna in the southern end of the Santiago. Line 5 crosses downtown from east to west and then runs south to the borough of La Florida.
The Metro costs 370 or 420 pesos per trip. On weekdays, the Metro runs between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. On Sundays and holidays service begins at 8:00 a.m.
Buses
Santiago’s streets are a sea of buses. You will often see more buses than cars on main thoroughfares and buses follow many of the city’s minor streets. As a consequence, Santiago's buses can take you within a short walk of anywhere you want to go.
Yellow buses, called micros, are most common. They run between the two boroughs displayed above bus’s windshield, always passing through downtown. If you are downtown, the easiest place to catch a bus is the Alameda. Look for a bus stop that serves buses to the borough you want to reach. There is a sign on the bottom left hand corner of every micro's windshield with the bus’s destination and a list of the streets on its route. Check in the maps section of the Yellow Pages (Las Amarillas de Publiguías) to find the routes that best serve you. Micros cost 380 pesos.
The Metro system has blue buses called Metrobuses.
The buses
run from Metro stations to boroughs that do not have
Metro service. They are
usually cheaper than micros, but run with less frequency.
Colectivos
Colectivos are taxis that work like buses. They follow a regular route and will fill the car with passengers. Colectivos are more comfortable than buses, but cost more. The price varies depending on how far you travel. Colectivos also tend to run late at night when there are fewer buses. You can catch a colectivo anywhere along the
Alameda, but it is easiest at Plaza Italia (Metro Station Baquedano) and in front of La Moneda (Metro Station La Moneda).
Taxis
There are two main types of taxis: normal taxis and radio taxis. The normal taxis are yellow and black cars that circulate throughout the city. They are inexpensive for short rides, but are expensive for longer trips. If you are downtown, it is best to walk to the
Alameda or to Parque Forestal to hail a taxi. Taxis cannot legally enter the downtown area unless they are dropping off passengers, though many drivers ignore this
law. If you take a taxi, it is best to give the driver (taxista) directions
than to simply tell him your destination. Some taxi drivers take advantage of
foreigners by taking roundabout trips to increase fares.
It is not necessary to tip taxi drivers, but it is common to round up the taxi
fare.
More expensive blue taxis wait outside of major hotels.
Radio taxis have fast service and are more inexpensive than normal taxis for
longer trips. Since thay take your from door to door, it is also safer to take
radio taxis at night. Radio taxis are also a good choice for trips to the
airport.
Addresses
- Transportes Lautaro
(2) 204-7467
- Jorge Valenzuela Andrade
English speaking taxi driver
(2) 683-2741
- Lobster Travel
(2) 522-8001
- Radio Taxi Arauco
(2) 246-1114
- Radio Taxi Providencia
(2) 209-0445
- Radio Taxi El Golf
(2) 212-8744
- Radio Taxi Apoquindo
(2) 211-6073
