Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos
Encyclopedia
Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos del Distrito Federal (STE) (Spanish
for Electric Transport Service of the Federal District) is a public transport
agency responsible for the operation of all trolleybus
and light rail
services in Mexico City
. As its name implies, its routes use only electrically powered vehicles. It was created on 31 December 1946 and is owned by the Mexican Federal District government. STE is overseen by a broader Federal District authority, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad (STV, or Setravi), which also regulates the city's other public transport authorities, including Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC, the Mexico City Metro
system), Red de Transporte de Pasajeros del D. F. (RTP, diesel bus network) and Metrobús
, as well as other forms of transportation in the district. STE's passenger vehicle fleet consists exclusively of trolleybuses and light rail vehicles, and in 2007 its network carried 88 million passengers, of which 67 million were on trolleybus services and 21 million on light rail.
network, but did not completely take over the assets and operations of that company until October 1952. STE also took over the Compañía de Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal (Mexico City Railways Company) at that time. The agency introduced its first trolleybus
route in 1951. To replace worn-out streetcars, STE acquired 274 used PCC cars
from U.S.
transit companies that were downsizing or abandoning their streetcar systems. Similarly, as it expanded its trolleybus network, the agency turned to American and Canadian
transit companies as a relatively inexpensive source of vehicles, acquiring almost 800 secondhand trolleybuses from several different cities in those countries between 1956 and 1977 and later 37 from Edmonton
in 1987. These have all since been replaced by trolleybuses built new, in Mexico, by Mexicana de Autobuses SA (MASA)
or its successor, Volvo
.
, or "mayor" of Mexico City. Since December 2006 the position has been held by Lic. Rufino H. León Tovar. STE has approximately 2,700 employees.
line still in operation was that from Tasqueña metro station
to Xochimilco (route 54) and its short branch to Tlalpan (53). STE upgraded this line in the mid-1980s as light rail
, with high-platform stations for faster loading and new articulated light rail cars built using parts from old PCC streetcar
s, fitted with new bodies. The Xochimilco Light Rail
service began operating in 1986, without the Tlalpan branch. It continues in operation today, with newer cars, and locally is known as the Tren Ligero. It is STE's only rail line. Construction of a new streetcar
line (or tranvía) in the city center was planned, with STE managing the construction bidding
process for the project, but on 31 May 2010 the project was cancelled by mayor Marcelo Ebrard
, on cost grounds.
network was gradually expanded. A network of 27 routes in operation in early 1979 was reduced to about 10 later that year, through a reorganization that combined overlapping routes, rather than through abandonments. An expansion program implemented after 1982 raised the number of separate routes back to 27, operated by 30 different services, by the end of 1988. STE's network reached its widest geographic coverage at that point, when the route most-distant from the city center was one from Tláhuac
to Milpa Alta
, in the far southeastern corner of the Federal District. This coverage was maintained only until early 1991. Although new routes were opened in 1995, 1997 and 2005, overall STE has, since 1991, discontinued more trolleybus routes than it has opened, with only 17 trolleybus routes still in operation in 2007. In 2009 and 2010, construction work on new metro line 12 has disrupted surface streets (requiring traffic detours) and caused some STE routes to become temporarily replaced by diesel bus routes; these are operated by RTP, as STE does not own any diesel buses. Trolleybuses are expected to return to those routes later, but currently, as of May 2010, only nine trolleybus routes are in operation.
On 1 August 2009, STE inaugurated its first Corredor Cero Emisiones, or Zero-Emissions Corridor, in which all public transport
service along one of the city's major traffic arteries is now provided by electric trolleybuses. This was not a new trolleybus line, but rather an upgrading of an existing line, STE's route A, along Eje Central
(Central Traffic Axis, primarily Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas). The route extends for 18.3 kilometres (11.4 mi), from Instituto del Petróleo metro station
and the Terminal de Autobuses del Norte (northern intercity bus station) to Tasqueña metro station
and the Terminal de Autobuses del Sur (southern intercity bus station). The changes involved in transforming route A into the "Zero-Emissions Corridor" included significantly increasing the frequency of trolleybus service, to an average headway of 2.5 minutes, and banning all non-electric buses and pesero
s (vans/jitneys) from the corridor. The Eje Central corridor alone now uses about 90–100 trolleybuses at peak times, from a sub-fleet of 120 vehicles reserved for this route. The trolleybuses operate in bus-only lane
s, separated from other traffic; such lanes already were present on this route. Several of STE's other trolleybus routes also operate in bus-only lanes over some portions of their route. Work is under way to upgrade another trolleybus route, route S (Eje 2/2A Sur), into a second Zero-Emissions Corridor, with a length of 11.2 kilometres (7 mi) (22.3 km round trip).
The system has three trolleybus garages (depositos, or depots). The largest is at Tetepilco, also the location of STE's main administrative offices. The newest, El Rosario, opened in December 1998, as a replacement for a much smaller depot, Azcapotzalco, which had closed in May of that year. The third is San Juan de Aragón depot. As of 2008, the trolleybus fleet comprised around 400 vehicles.
system, meaning the price is the same regardless of the distance travelled. The current fare is 2.00 pesos
on all trolleybus
lines except line A, the Corredor Cero Emisiones, on which the fare is 4.00 pesos. Effective 2 January 2010, the fare on the Xochimilco light rail line
is 3.00 pesos.
On the Tren Ligero, or light rail
line, passengers pay the fare at the stations, to ticket vending machines, and the platform of each station is a paid area
, with turnstiles preventing access to persons lacking a valid fare. On the trolleybuses, passengers pay the exact fare upon boarding, into fareboxes, with drivers responsible for monitoring fare payment.
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...
for Electric Transport Service of the Federal District) is a public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
agency responsible for the operation of all trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
and light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
services in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. As its name implies, its routes use only electrically powered vehicles. It was created on 31 December 1946 and is owned by the Mexican Federal District government. STE is overseen by a broader Federal District authority, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad (STV, or Setravi), which also regulates the city's other public transport authorities, including Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC, the Mexico City Metro
Mexico City Metro
The Mexico City Metro , officially called Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, is a metro system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City...
system), Red de Transporte de Pasajeros del D. F. (RTP, diesel bus network) and Metrobús
Mexico City Metrobús
Metrobús is a bus rapid transit system in Mexico City, Mexico. It comprises 3 lines that traverse the city and connect with other forms of transit. It was officially opened to the public with service along Line 1 on 19 June 2005...
, as well as other forms of transportation in the district. STE's passenger vehicle fleet consists exclusively of trolleybuses and light rail vehicles, and in 2007 its network carried 88 million passengers, of which 67 million were on trolleybus services and 21 million on light rail.
History
STE was organized in 1947, to replace the privately run Compañía de Tranvías de México (Mexico City Tramways Company), operator of the city's tramway/streetcarTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
network, but did not completely take over the assets and operations of that company until October 1952. STE also took over the Compañía de Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal (Mexico City Railways Company) at that time. The agency introduced its first trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
route in 1951. To replace worn-out streetcars, STE acquired 274 used PCC cars
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
from U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
transit companies that were downsizing or abandoning their streetcar systems. Similarly, as it expanded its trolleybus network, the agency turned to American and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
transit companies as a relatively inexpensive source of vehicles, acquiring almost 800 secondhand trolleybuses from several different cities in those countries between 1956 and 1977 and later 37 from Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
in 1987. These have all since been replaced by trolleybuses built new, in Mexico, by Mexicana de Autobuses SA (MASA)
MASA (company)
Mexicana de Autobuses, S.A., or MASA, was a major bus and coach manufacturer located in Mexico. Formed in 1959, it was owned by the Mexican government until being privatized in 1988...
or its successor, Volvo
Volvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
.
Overview
STE's Director General (General Manager) is appointed by the Head of Government of the Federal DistrictHead of Government of the Federal District
The Head of Government wields executive power in the Mexican Federal District.The Head of Government serves a six-year term, running concurrently with that of the President of the Republic....
, or "mayor" of Mexico City. Since December 2006 the position has been held by Lic. Rufino H. León Tovar. STE has approximately 2,700 employees.
Light rail
After May 1979, the only streetcarTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line still in operation was that from Tasqueña metro station
Metro Tasqueña
Metro Tasqueña is a station on Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro system. It is located in the Campestre Churubusco neighborhood, within the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City, directly south of the city centre on Avenida Tasqueña and Canal de Miramontes...
to Xochimilco (route 54) and its short branch to Tlalpan (53). STE upgraded this line in the mid-1980s as light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
, with high-platform stations for faster loading and new articulated light rail cars built using parts from old PCC streetcar
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
s, fitted with new bodies. The Xochimilco Light Rail
Xochimilco Light Rail
The Xochimilco Light Rail is a light rail line that serves the southern part of Mexico City. It connects to, but is not considered a part of, the Mexico City Metro...
service began operating in 1986, without the Tlalpan branch. It continues in operation today, with newer cars, and locally is known as the Tren Ligero. It is STE's only rail line. Construction of a new streetcar
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line (or tranvía) in the city center was planned, with STE managing the construction bidding
Construction bidding
Construction bidding is the process of submitting a proposal to undertake, or manage the undertaking of a construction project. The process starts with a construction estimate from blueprints and take offs....
process for the project, but on 31 May 2010 the project was cancelled by mayor Marcelo Ebrard
Marcelo Ebrard
Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón is the current Head of Government of the Federal District since December 5, 2006. He is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Party of the Democratic Revolution who served as Secretary-General of the former Mexican Federal District Department, minister of public...
, on cost grounds.
Trolleybus
After its opening in the 1950s the trolleybusTrolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
network was gradually expanded. A network of 27 routes in operation in early 1979 was reduced to about 10 later that year, through a reorganization that combined overlapping routes, rather than through abandonments. An expansion program implemented after 1982 raised the number of separate routes back to 27, operated by 30 different services, by the end of 1988. STE's network reached its widest geographic coverage at that point, when the route most-distant from the city center was one from Tláhuac
Tláhuac
Tláhuac is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. It is located on the east edge of the district and is largely rural in character. The main town, San Pedro Tláhuac, is situated alongside a lake, and is the site of a 16th century church. The borough had a 2010...
to Milpa Alta
Milpa Alta
Milpa Alta is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. It lies in the southeast corner of the Distrito Federal, bordering the States of México and Morelos. It is the second largest and most rural of all delegaciones. It is also the least populous and...
, in the far southeastern corner of the Federal District. This coverage was maintained only until early 1991. Although new routes were opened in 1995, 1997 and 2005, overall STE has, since 1991, discontinued more trolleybus routes than it has opened, with only 17 trolleybus routes still in operation in 2007. In 2009 and 2010, construction work on new metro line 12 has disrupted surface streets (requiring traffic detours) and caused some STE routes to become temporarily replaced by diesel bus routes; these are operated by RTP, as STE does not own any diesel buses. Trolleybuses are expected to return to those routes later, but currently, as of May 2010, only nine trolleybus routes are in operation.
On 1 August 2009, STE inaugurated its first Corredor Cero Emisiones, or Zero-Emissions Corridor, in which all public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
service along one of the city's major traffic arteries is now provided by electric trolleybuses. This was not a new trolleybus line, but rather an upgrading of an existing line, STE's route A, along Eje Central
Eje Central
The Eje Central is part of a system of roadways built by Carlos Hank González to make Mexico City more automobile-friendly....
(Central Traffic Axis, primarily Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas). The route extends for 18.3 kilometres (11.4 mi), from Instituto del Petróleo metro station
Metro Instituto del Petróleo
Metro Instituto del Petróleo is a station along Line 5 and Line 6 of the metro of Mexico City serving the Colonia Valle del Tepeyac, Colonia San Bartolo Atepehuapan, and Colonia Nueva Industrial districts of the Gustavo A...
and the Terminal de Autobuses del Norte (northern intercity bus station) to Tasqueña metro station
Metro Tasqueña
Metro Tasqueña is a station on Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro system. It is located in the Campestre Churubusco neighborhood, within the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City, directly south of the city centre on Avenida Tasqueña and Canal de Miramontes...
and the Terminal de Autobuses del Sur (southern intercity bus station). The changes involved in transforming route A into the "Zero-Emissions Corridor" included significantly increasing the frequency of trolleybus service, to an average headway of 2.5 minutes, and banning all non-electric buses and pesero
Pesero
A pesero is a form of public transport, most commonly seen in Mexico City. Its name derives from the fact that the first incarnations of this form of transport charged a flat fee of one peso per ride .First seen in the 1970's as the so-called taxi colectivo , peseros were originally...
s (vans/jitneys) from the corridor. The Eje Central corridor alone now uses about 90–100 trolleybuses at peak times, from a sub-fleet of 120 vehicles reserved for this route. The trolleybuses operate in bus-only lane
Bus lane
A bus lane or bus only lane is a lane restricted to buses, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion...
s, separated from other traffic; such lanes already were present on this route. Several of STE's other trolleybus routes also operate in bus-only lanes over some portions of their route. Work is under way to upgrade another trolleybus route, route S (Eje 2/2A Sur), into a second Zero-Emissions Corridor, with a length of 11.2 kilometres (7 mi) (22.3 km round trip).
The system has three trolleybus garages (depositos, or depots). The largest is at Tetepilco, also the location of STE's main administrative offices. The newest, El Rosario, opened in December 1998, as a replacement for a much smaller depot, Azcapotzalco, which had closed in May of that year. The third is San Juan de Aragón depot. As of 2008, the trolleybus fleet comprised around 400 vehicles.
Non-electric services
Starting in November 1997, and lasting for four years, STE operated a few diesel bus routes, at the request of STV following the 1995 bankruptcy of RTP's predecessor, Ruta Cien ("Route 100"). It accepted the transfer of 190 motorbuses to its fleet in conjunction with this, but these and the bus routes were transferred to RTP in November 2001. Otherwise, except for a brief period in the 1960s, STE's service has always used only electric vehicles.Fare system
STE uses a "flat" fareFare
A fare is the fee paid by a passenger allowing him or her to make use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used.-Uses:...
system, meaning the price is the same regardless of the distance travelled. The current fare is 2.00 pesos
Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...
on all trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
lines except line A, the Corredor Cero Emisiones, on which the fare is 4.00 pesos. Effective 2 January 2010, the fare on the Xochimilco light rail line
Xochimilco Light Rail
The Xochimilco Light Rail is a light rail line that serves the southern part of Mexico City. It connects to, but is not considered a part of, the Mexico City Metro...
is 3.00 pesos.
On the Tren Ligero, or light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line, passengers pay the fare at the stations, to ticket vending machines, and the platform of each station is a paid area
Paid area
In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station sealed by barriers. A system using paid areas is often called fare control. Passengers are allowed to enter or exit only through a faregate...
, with turnstiles preventing access to persons lacking a valid fare. On the trolleybuses, passengers pay the exact fare upon boarding, into fareboxes, with drivers responsible for monitoring fare payment.
External links
- Setravi website (Spanish) (see infobox at top for STE's website)