I previously wrote a post about the Teleférico do Alemao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the process of writing about that former cable car mass transit system, I came across this larger system in La Paz, Bolivia – here is what I found!
Where we are in the world
La Paz, Bolivia is one of the two capital cities of Bolivia (the other being Sucre) in the Andes Mountain range region. A neighboring city, El Alto, is located in the same metropolitan region. Travel within the La Paz-El Alto region has historically been difficult due to major elevation changes and narrow, winding roads that often were very congested. A cable car system called Mi Teleférico was introduced in the 2010s to alleviate transit issues.
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
Mi Teleférico is the first transit system to use cable cars as the primary means of transport
While other cities might use cable cars as a complement to other mass transit, such a bus or a train system, Mi Teleférico is the first mass transit system in the world to use cable cars as the main system of transport. The system stretches almost 20 miles and the passenger cars travel at an average of 11 miles per hour.
The creation of the cable car system lent to a more inclusive cityscape
Many of the working class people in the region live outside of La Paz in the higher-situated hills around the city proper. As such, before Mi Teleférico these individuals would have to take minibuses that would often get stuck in traffic, pollute the city and are generally not accessible to everyone.
However, the cable car system allowed working-class individuals living outside the city in areas such as El Alto (which is 1,300 feet higher than La Paz) easier access to the commercial hubs of La Paz. The cost of a ride on the system is about US$0.45 as of 2019 (or 3 bolivianos).
Stations have names in two languages
The stations throughout the cable car system have names in two languages – Spanish and Aymara. Spanish is the official language of the country brought over by the Spanish colonizers, while Aymara is the Native language of the indigenous people in the La Paz/El Alto region. 44% of the Bolivian population identifies themselves as part of an indigenous group according to the CIA World Factbook.
Additional links and sources
- Official website of Mi Teleférico (link)
- Overview of the key hallmarks and statistics of the infrastructure project (link)
- Youtube video of the view while riding the cable car system (link, published in 2015)
Have you travelled to La Paz, Bolivia and taken a ride on Mi Teleférico?
See other places around the world Globe Charting has featured!
