Monterrey and New Technology

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

When we came home on Friday I noticed workmen changing street lights on two major avenues.  What I found amazing was that they were being replaced with rectangular light cages filled with LEDs.   All of our street lights and our subway system are powered by generators which rely on methane which come from our landfills.  A pretty cool system.   The street lights that are on overpasses are powered by solar panels, including luminated signs.

We also have a new ground transportation system going in called EcoVia.   It  will run on major avenues and is an alternative to building new subway lines.   It is almost ready and it will provide upgraded climate controlled buses with special fares and transfers.  This is an attempt to break the concessions that control city bus routes and hopefully eliminate the mafia, their crappy service and equipment.   Not all bus lines in Monterrey are bad, some are actually quite nice with air conditioning.   Times are a changing.  

On Sunday we went for family visits and I decided to come home early.  I took a free bus which is provided by the subway system that takes you to the station.  From there, you chose your number of trips and board the train.  Fast, clean and efficient.   I enjoyed it quite a bit.  When we lived in town I used the subway quite a bit.

Apart from that, it looks like we are on the downside of the summer canicula (dog days of summer), or 40 days of severe heat.  We are hovering around 37C during the day having passed the 40s range.   The nights are cooling down and I doubt we will need the A/C at night much longer.  Good on the electric bill.

I'm getting bored already and looking forward to a a trip somewhere.   We have the rv in McAllen for the next couple of months so we will have to go there before heading out anywhere.  There are some cheap back to school airfares around so maybe we can visit Oaxaca for a week.  I'll be checking.