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
- random dudeover 13 yearswow, now those people arent going to get enough exercise! how dare they make even more people obese.
- morganover 13 yearsI can't believe they built an escalator that big. I don't know if speding all that money on the escalator was a good idea. It is good because it takes less time to get to the city. But it is bad because all those poor people could have used the money for food and better house conditions. I think it must be very hard to live in a place like that.
- $!over 13 yearsWOW!!! It is so great that the town got the escalators so that they wouldn't have to walk up 503 stairs for 35 minutes and just stand for 6 minutes instead ! I wonder who got all of the money or how did they get the money ? I wonder how long it took to build this escalator? I think that the people who are not happy should be because they dodn't have to walk up 503 stairs but they still do have a point !
- $!#^^@over 13 yearsWOW!!! It is so great that the town got the escalators so that they wouldn't have to walk up 503 stairs for 35 minutes and just stand for 6 minutes instead ! I wonder who got all of the money or how did they get the money ? I wonder how long it took to build this escalator? I think that the people who are not happy should be because they dodn't have to walk up 503 stairs but they still do have a point !
- alexover 13 yearsi wounder how much money it took to build the escalatore the escalatore looks so big i think it took a long time to build it
- Ryanover 13 yearsThat's a big escalator.I wonder how many people can fit on that escalator at once.Why would any body not like the escalator idea.It's a good idea.it would be weird if they only got around on escalators.
- Emilyover 13 yearsWow. I would not like to go down 530 stairs every day.Good thing they installed a huge escalator.you wouldn't even have to walk you would just have to stand and relax.I wish our school had a huge escalator,so we could relax.
- Kristina!!!!over 13 yearsWOW!!! It is so great that the town got the escalators so that they wouldn't have to walk up 503 stairs for 35 minutes and just stand for 6 minutes instead ! I wonder who got all of the money or how did they get the money ? I wonder how long it took to build this escalator? I think that the people who are not happy should be because they dodn't have to walk up 503 stairs but they still do have a point !
- Mileyover 13 yearsThats so cool!!! :) I was wondering what happens when it rains......
- kobeover 13 yearsawsome
dveirarommover 13 yearsi know right so cool xD