Tourists to the vacation hotspot of Merida will soon get to enjoy some cool new wheels to get around town as the town is set to debut its new IE-Tram service coming in December.
Modern Electric Bus Routes
Five new IE-Tram buses will be hitting the road in Merida in December highlighting the community’s investment in state-of-the-art modern electric transportation for both tourists and locals.
The first two planned routes for the innovative new buses will be Merida to Teya and Merida to Kanasin. A third route to the Engineering Center-Faculty of the Autonomous University of Yucatan should be operating sometime in February.
The main station of the new IE-Tram service in Merida will be centrally located at the Gran Parque de la Plancha. All three routes will start and end at this station, which will also host the electric charging stations and parking yards for the fleet.
The Merida to Kanasin will feature nine convenient stops for travelers to Merida. One will be strategically placed on Quetzalcoatl Avenue, where tourists will easily be able to connect to the new Maya Train service.
Plans are ultimately to expand the current five new IE-tram buses to a total of 17 to ultimately modernize the look and feel of the Merida transportation system. The new buses will also reduce emissions as the new innovative vehicles will be electric-powered, adding to the local sustainability efforts.
They would be rolled out earlier, however, there are reports that the buses are being held in customs and pending eventual release to Merida.
That gave municipal officials plenty of time to modify several major roads in the area to accommodate the new high-tech buses.
Integration With the Existing System
With all of the new investment in transportation technology in the Mexican Caribbean hotspot, travelers may be thinking about how much they are expecting to raise the rates to use the bus.
However, that has yet to be decided. For now, the municipal government mentioned that they expect the prices to remain the same for tourists using the new electric IE-Tram bus to get around town while on their vacation getaway.
They plan to have a trial run of the new transportation technology and see how it is accepted by visitors and locals. They then will determine if a price increase is needed.
The good news for travelers is the new buses will be integrated into the existing “Va y Ven” local transportation network, including the tourist convenient mobile app and electronic card system.
What Travelers Need to Know
With the rapid growth in popularity of Merida as a tourist destination, several improvements are being made to the city center and transportation networks to provide additional amenities to attract visitors from all over the world.
Traffic at the Merida airport continues to grow as travelers find the city as an alternative, and more authentic, beach travel destination in the Mexican Caribbean.
The good news for visitors is that the local municipal government, along with the State of Yucatan, are apparently willing to invest in upgrading the tourist experience and delivering more value for travelers to the area.
As more and more tourist attractions are added to the area, travelers to Merida should expect to see more crowds and increased visitation to the area.
A number of airlines have announced that they plan to start non-stop service to the Merida International Airport from the United States next year. The Mexican airline Viva-Aerobus has flights starting from Orlando on July 1 and Miami on July 2 of next year. Meanwhile, Aeromexico Connect will restart service from Atlanta in March.
This complements existing flights to the popular city from Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami from American Airlines and Houston-Intercontinental from United Airlines.
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