The Buenos Aires electric bus expanded its route to better connect two very important points in Buenos Aires. Starting this week, these groups arrive to the area of the Retiro bus station and they end their route in the cruise terminal.
The e-buses began to circulate in May, with a frequency of approximately 15 minutes.
The line has 30 units, all managed by women, which until now linked Lezama Park with Plaza San Martín. They left from the southern part of Puerto Madero, in an armed terminal under the Buenos Aires-La Plata highway at the height of Brazil, they passed through Martín García, Piedras, Perú and other streets in the center until they reached Plaza San Martín. There, they turned around and returned south along the Maipú/Chacabuco axis, basically. Its main function is to cover the Historic Center.
But since Monday they expanded their range by 3.5 km. Now, upon arriving in Retiro, continue along Ramos Mejía Street and pass in front of the Miter, Belgrano Norte and San Martín train heads. Then they continue along Antártida Argentina Avenue to connect with the bus station. And finally they cross to Ramón Castillo Avenue, in the port area, to reach the cruise terminal.
This last connection is important. The thing is that the boat terminal does not have, until now, a good transport offer: the subway does not serve, there are few buses and taxis cannot cope. Less so, when thousands of tourists descend at the same time, who want to make the most of their time in Buenos Aires. Furthermore, in recent years the number of cruise ships arriving through the Río de la Plata has grown, in the seasons from October to April.
There is a second change in the e-bus route. On their way from San Telmo to Retiro, the buses now go down the street Esmeralda. Originally they circulated through Bartolomé Mitre, San Martín and Marcelo T. de Alvear. But in October, due to work on San Martín Street, they had to be diverted to Esmeralda, and then the Ministry of Mobility noticed that travel time was reduced to 10 minutes during rush hour. Thus, that route was confirmed.
For this reason, the stops on San Martín (Mitre, Corrientes, Tucumán, Córdoba and Marcelo T. de Alvear) were canceled and three new ones were added on Esmeralda, at the intersections with Corrientes, Tucumán and Córdoba.
This time savings offset what it now takes to complete the extended route. Electric buses pass approximately every 15 minutes.
After a couple of months of free trips, today the ticket costs the same as the minimum fare for common buses: $620.07. And it is updated monthly, like the rest of the transportation controlled by the Buenos Aires Government. A clarification: you can pay with a credit card, debit card or phones with NFC technology; but it cannot be paid with the SUBE card, a system that depends on the national government.
Since their debut, Buenos Aires e-buses have transported more than 300,000 passengers. Today they take some 1,000 per day.
