Outdoor Escalators Help Colombian Shantytown Residents

People who live in the steep hills of Medellin, Colombia’s Comuna 13 neighborhood have a poor quality of life—not only because they live in poverty in this shantytown community, but because getting from one place to another is the equivalent of climbing a 28-story building. But the installation of urban outdoor escalators will change their lives. Whereas residents once had to hike 35 minutes to get up the hillside, it’ll now take them six minutes—and for free. From the Associated Press:

Cesar Hernandez, head of projects for Medellin, said the electric stairway is divided into six sections and has a length of 384 meters (1,260 feet). An escalator goes up and a second goes down. Authorities plan to build a covering for inclement whether.

Officals from Rio de Janeiro are going to come to Medellin to see the project to see if it can be adapted for the favelas there. Let’s just hope these escalators get better maintenance than the ones in U.S. Seems they’re broken more than they’re not, especially in city subways.

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