Mexico City

Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the name of a megacity located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus (altiplano) at the center of Mexico, about 2,240 metres (7,349 feet) above sea-level, surrounded on most sides by volcanoes towering at 4,000 to 5,500 metres (13,000 to 18,000 feet) above sea-level.

Sports

NASCAR plans to hold annual Busch Series races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez starting with the 2005 event held there.

Related Topics:
NASCAR - Busch Series - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

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Transportation

Mexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an extensive metro system (207 km), the largest in Latin America, the first portions of which were opened in 1969. One of the busiest in the world, the metro transports more than 4 million people every day, surpassed only by Moscow's (7.5 million), Tokyo's (5.9 million) and Seoul's (4.4 million). It is heavily subsidized, and it is one of the cheapest in the world, each trip currently costing MXN $2 (around EUR 0.13 or USD 0.19). A number of stations display Pre-Columbian artifacts and architecture that was discovered during the metro's construction. However, the Metro reaches only a fraction of the total inhabited area of the city, and therefore an extensive network of bus routes has been implemented. These are mostly managed by private companies which are allowed to operate buses as long as they adhere to certain minimal service quality standards.

Related Topics:
Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro - Metro - 1969 - MXN $ - EUR - USD

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The city government also operates a network of large buses, in contrast with the privately operated microbuses, with fares barely exceeding that of the Metro. Electric transport other than the metro also exists, in the form of trolleybuses and the Xochimilco Light Rail line. A new project has been constructed to create the city's first bus rapid transit line, the Metrobús, on Avenida Insurgentes, in order to reduce pollution and decrease transit time for passengers.

Related Topics:
Microbuses - Trolleybus - Xochimilco Light Rail - Bus rapid transit - Metrobús

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There are plenty of lime-green colored taxi cabs, which, while occasionally unsafe if taken randomly from the street instead of designated locales, are undeniably economical. The freeway system is so dense that there is an ongoing project to make a second level to the main ringroad that is to this day already partially operational.

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Mexico City is served by Benito Juárez International Airport (IATA Airport Code: MEX). It has four major bus stations (North, South, Observatorio, TAPO), with bus service to cities across the country, and one train station, used for commercial purposes (intercity passenger trains are now virtually non-existent in Mexico). There is also has several toll expressways which connect it with several other major cities. Unfortunately, the city does not have an expressway network that connects points within the city; all cross-city trips must be done on arterial roads. This is one reason why the city's streets are so congested.

Related Topics:
Benito Juárez International Airport - IATA Airport Code - Expressway - Arterial road

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Urban Problems

As one of the largest urban areas in the world, Mexico City suffers from no shortage of the problems common of many large cities, including traffic, poverty, and pollution. This is perhaps exacerbated by Mexico's developing country status. This city has a high number of street children; some estimate as many as 50,000. The mountains and volcanoes surrounding the city trap polluted air in the city and contribute to the city's serious problem with poor air quality, although major strides have been made to improve the pollution situation in the past 20 years or so.

Related Topics:
Poverty - Street children - Poor air quality

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Violent crime is also a major concern; in 2003 Mexico had the second-highest number of kidnappings in the world, with some 3,000 reported cases. In taxis, a particular problem has arisen; individuals are sometimes kidnapped by unauthorized taxi drivers, in order to empty their bank accounts at ATMs. Victims are sometimes kept overnight in order to bypass daily withdrawal limits. Inside other transportation, mostly microbuses, pickpocketing is still a common activity, and Mexico City inhabitants take various levels of precaution to avoid being victims of this.

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Police reform has also been a focus of the government for the past decade; there is a general sense of distrust against the authorities, as conventional wisdom holds that all Mexico's police forces are corrupt one way or another. This issue came to a head in November 2004, when an angry crowd in

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Tláhuac allowed themselves to be whipped up into a frenzy by the local criminal elements and burned two undercover police officers alive http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4038173.stm and seriously injured another, on rumors that they were child kidnappers.

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