Public transportation in Lisbon/O transporte público em Lisboa

Hello. It's been a few days since I posted here. Had a spot of internet trouble, but we think we've resolved it (fingers crossed). Anyway, instead of the usual "here's a place and some pictures of it" post, I am going to post about public transportation in Lisbon. First, there is Carris, which operates all the above-ground public transport in Lisbon, ie the buses, trams, trolleys, funiculars, and the Elevador de Santa Justa. The Lisbon Metro is the "underground" system, aka the subway. Then there are the plentiful taxis, which are of course privately operated. Finally, there are also several ferries which run back and forth across the river (passenger only, no cars). This post will give you a glimpse of them all.

First, the old trolleys, or "electricos" as they are called here. This is the #18 at Cais do Sodre. These resemble the sort of old-timey street cars that used to populate cities' transportation systems a century ago. In Lisbon, these are still used frequently. Yes, during certain times they are mostly packed with tourists (especially #28), but at other times you are as likely to see a little grandma hop on as not. I think they are still in use because they do generate a lot of revenue from tourism, but I think that Lisboetas also have a special fondness for them, despite their flaws.

Here's one at Praça Figueira in the Baixa. I'm not sure why it was there, since that not normally on an "electrico" route, but there it was.

Here's the front of the #28 heading uphill at Largo de Santa Luzia. This one had advertising on it. (Some of them have ads plastered on them, some get marked with graffiti, and some are just plain glimmering yellow).

Finally, here's another #28, chugging uphill on the Calçada de São Francisco.

Curious what they look like inside? Here you go:

Here's the newer, modern replacement for those electricos. These trams only run on a few routes, but they are quite nice.

Here's one plastered in advertising. They kind of look like slugs, don't they?

Some of you may be asking, 'what is a funicular?' Well, let me show you. It's essentially a trolley car customised to traverse up and down steep hills. This one is the Elevador da Gloria. There are four of these running in Lisbon. They don't have a long route or anything, they just go back and forth, up and down one hill.

The regular city buses are what you'd expect, keeping up with the yellow theme. Here's a normal-length one:

And here's an articulated one:

Ok, now on to the Metro. Here's the exterior of a train. This one happens to be on the Green Line (linha verde), but they all look the same. There is also a Red (vermelha) line, Blue (azul) line, and Yellow (amarelha) line.

Here's the interior of a car. The interiors come in different flavors. This one is what I call "sterile baby blue". Sometimes you'll find the "faux wood paneling" variety or the "simple beige". They're all the same layout, and the seats are always the same reddish/purple design.

The passenger ferries scuttle back and forth across the Rio Tejo. Some are quite modern, such as the hydrofoil pictured below. Others are older and clunkier, looking more like a gussied-up tug boat. I've only got pictures of the new variety so far. Here it is pulling up to the Cais do Sodre terminus (it's a ferry terminal, train station, and metro/bus hub all in one).

Finally, if the public transport options don't work for you, there's always a taxi. The taxis come in two varieties - beige and black/green (black on bottom, green on top). What's the difference? Absolutely nothing. The story is that once upon a time, every taxi in Lisbon was black with a green top. Then the regulations changed (I postulate post-revolution) and they all had to be painted beige. Then, only a few years ago, the rules changed AGAIN and they were supposed to become black-with-green again - BUT! the drivers that had beige cars were grandfathered in, so they didn't have to change their colors. So, now there are two varieties of taxies in Lisbon, and there ain't a whit of difference between them - except their colors. Here are two, one of each variety, so you can compare.

I should also note, while the large majority of taxis here are Mercedes sedans, there is no requirement on car model, so you do see other varieties, such as the minivan pictured here.

That's it. Come ride with us.