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Public Transportation

Santiago aerial tram

Shuttered since June 2009, Santiago, Chile’s, aerial tramway Teleférico de Santiago began operating again in November 2016, with new cars and updated safety equipment.

The cable cars, located in Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, travel two kilometers from Oasis Station, at the park’s entrance, to Tupahue Station on Tupahue Hill and Cumbre Station near the peak of San Cristóbal Hill (at 2,890 feet, the second-highest point in the city). The park also contains the Chilean National Zoo, a botanical garden, a funicular and public pools. 

Spate of protests in Bangladesh

In Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, bus drivers and truckers began protesting in late February after a court passed a life sentence on a bus driver responsible for an accident in 2011 that left five people dead, including a filmmaker and a journalist.

On Feb. 28, hundreds of drivers held a strike at the country’s largest bus station and brought traffic to a halt. The next day, protests turned violent, vehicles were torched, and police fired riot guns and tear gas at the crowd. Several people were injured, and four officers were injured by a crude explosive device.

Ocean Bus, Stockholm

Visitors to Stockholm, Sweden, can take a city tour on the 40-passenger, amphibious Ocean Bus (Nybrogatan 62, 114 40, Stockholm, Sweden; phone +46 708 879 854, www.oceanbus.se/en). 

The 75-minute tour leaves from a point near the Royal Opera House (Strömgatan 10, Stockholm) and, making no stops, takes passengers through the Östermalm district, then launches into the water to cruise past the islands of Djurgården and Skeppsholmen before returning. 

Slovenia transport pass

On Sept. 1, Slovenia introduced “integrated public passenger transport” (IPPT), and now a rider can travel on all of the country’s interurban public transportation systems, including national trains and buses, and on urban transport in the cities of Ljubljana and Maribor without having to buy separate tickets.

Uber in China

In order to maintain a presence in China, ride-sharing company Uber (www.uber.com) sold its Chinese operations to China ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing. Uber customers in China will still use the Uber app to hail a ride and should not see any difference in operation. Uber has operated in China since 2013, and its ride-sharing is available in 37 cities there, including Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai.

Oslo trams and trains

My wife and I have been going to Oslo at least once a year since 1992. I love the Oslo transportation system, and I was impressed with the letter “From Airport to Oslo and Frogner Park” (Sept. ’16, pg. 15).

The writer mentioned the brown brick building, near Oslo’s Sentral Station, where you can buy tram tickets. Something that travelers should be aware of is while entering the building to buy your ticket, you will need to take a number and wait for assistance from one of the clerks there.