Giant Escalator Become Mode Of Transport For Colombia's Shanty Dwellers
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Imagine if after a long day at school, instead of jumping into a car, you were faced with 530 hard stairs? That is exactly what some of the poorest residents of the town of Medellin, Colombia had to face each and every day.
That's because over 12,000 of them live in an area known as Comuna 13, which happens to be located entirely on a steep hillside. The only way from there to the city center was by climbing up and down old rambling stairs, something the residents had been resigned to doing for many generations. Not only was it hard, but also, an unproductive time drain, given that it took over 35 minutes to scale the stairs.
However, now there is finally some relief, thanks to a ginormous 1,269ft. tall escalator that has been installed alongside the steps, so that the residents can simply step up, relax and take in the views, all the way up.
In order to make sure that it is easily accessible to everyone living on the hillside, the escalator is divided into six sections. Those that need to continue simply hop off one section and walk right onto the next. The best part is, that their commute time has been reduced to 6 minutes.
Surprisingly however, not all residents are as thrilled with this new 'public transport' system that cost $6.7mm USD. Some believe that the money should have been used to upgrade the condition of their homes or help them buy food. Hopefully, that is what the government officials will focus on next.
Meanwhile, this outdoor escalator, the first of its kind, is garnering the attention of many neighboring cities. Officials from Rio de Janeiro are considering a similar project for some of their shantytowns which, are also located on steep hillsides.
Resources: Dailymail.co.uk, cnn.com, bbc.co.uk
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258 Comments
- Daveover 13 yearsWow I wish that we had the escalator so we could stop pollution ! See I have a sensitive side too.
- S<T>E<P<H>A<N>I<Eover 13 yearsI wonder why people still use the stairs.I would like to use the esgalators. the esgalatrs are cool but they could've used someimprovment totheir homes. I wonder how long it will take to ride all the esaaors back and forth.
- RettMannover 13 yearsi would love them to connect from my house to school.
- rebekahover 13 yearsi reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly like this article i think they needed it i hpoe they dont mess it up there very lucky i wish we could get one even though we dont need 1
- Danielover 13 yearsI wish I could have invented this!
jackthefamousover 13 yearsAWESOME! I'd rather go on an escalator and talk to my friends than go on the bus. It would be really fun! They probably wont make one though i live pretty close but there are a lot of roads. I would not want to walk up a flight of stairs that took 35 minutes just to climb up. Plus its that way to school and back. It would take 70 minutes in all witch is 10 minutes over an hour. Maybe those people need'ed it a lot more then us though we have 12 buses. I wouldn't like it if i was one of those kids. If you know me I HATE WALKING!- sun kid drover 13 yearscool i wish i was there xD :)
- Antover 13 yearsIts very good for the town to get the escalators because they don't have to wok up 503 stairs now! The town must be very wealthy because maybe bill gates or donald trump getting that but them?
- Cupidessover 13 yearsBONJOUR! It is cool that they made an escalator for poor people.Next they should make a restaurant where the food is cheap but it tastes great. I have more ideas for the poor people and I bet everyone else has more ideas too. Au revoir!
- Lauren Bieberover 13 yearsI feel so happy for them not to walk 35 minutes anymore. If I were them I would rather have a better house and more food to give to my family for them to eat . But everyone should be happy the people who are not happy should be because they do not have to walk 35 minutes and now it takes them 6 minutes to walk to there homes and the city .