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纜車，那個在空中滑來滑去的東西，怎麼會和公交掛上鉤呢？因為在有的地方，纜車開始扮演和公交一樣的角色。上下班的路程都是在天上，聽起來是不是很奇妙呢，讓我們來看看吧~
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Subways in the sky
空中地鐵
Why politicians and commuters like cable cars
為什麼政客和通勤家喜歡纜車
【1】MEXICABLE, a cable-car line 4.9km (three miles) long, soars above Ecatepec, a poor suburb of Mexico City. Open for just over a year, its 185 gondolas carry 18,000 people a day between San Andrés de La Cañada, at the top of the hill, and Santa Clara Coatitla at the bottom. The trip makes five stops en route and takes 19 minutes, compared with the 80-minute bus trip residents previously endured. The cable car is “super quick and much less stressful,” says Nelly Hernández, a passenger accompanied by her awestruck four-year-old daughter.
cable car：[ˈkeibl kɑ:] n.（電）纜車
gondola：[ˈgɑ:ndələ] n.貢多拉，狹長小船;貨架（一般指商店，例如化妝品店）
en route：[en ru:t] 在途中
endure：[ɪn'djʊə(r)] v.容忍；忍耐；持久；持續
awestruck：[ˈɔːstrʌk] adj.敬畏的，肅然起敬的
Mexicable是一個4900米（三英里）長的纜車，翱翔在墨西哥城的一個貧困山區埃卡特佩克上空。這條纜車線路才開放了一年多，它共有185個貢多拉纜車，每天能承載18000人往返于山頂和山腳間。以前居民不得不忍受80分鐘的巴士旅行，而如今纜車出行途中只有五站，只要19分鐘。耐莉•赫爾南德茲是一名乘客，身邊帶著一個四歲的女兒，她表示電纜車“超級快，壓力又要小得多”，她的女兒也十分驚歎。
［2］In rich Western countries, cable cars are mainly for tourists. Latin America, in contrast, has adopted them as mass transit for the poor. They suit the region’s mountainous cities, many of which have expanded chaotically, says Julio Dávila of University College London. Ecatepec’s population jumped after an earthquake hit Mexico City in 1985.
mass transit：公共交通，公共交通工具（總稱），大量客運
mountainous：[ˈmaʊntənəs] adj.多山的；巨大的；山一般的
He lives in a mountainous district.
他住在山區。
chaotically：[keɪˈɒtɪk(ə)li] adv. 混亂地
在富裕的西方國家，纜車主要是為遊客預備的。相反的，拉丁美洲將纜車作為窮人的公共交通工具。倫敦大學學院的胡里奧•達維拉認為，這些纜車很適合該地區的山地城市，其中很多城市都已經擴張的十分混亂。在1985年墨西哥大地震後，埃卡特佩克的人口激增。
［3］The pioneer was Medellín, Colombia’s second city. Refugees from the country’s long civil war had crowded into hillside districts. Widening streets to create new bus lanes or extending the metro would have been too costly. A cable car, opened in 2004, was the answer. Since then Cali, Caracas and Rio de Janeiro (as well as Mexico City) have built similar systems. In September Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president, opened La Paz’s fifth teleférico, extending the world’s longest and highest network with a link to the clifftop city of El Alto.
refugee：[ˌrefjuˈdʒi:] n.避難者，難民
The refugees want to be resettled in London.
這些難民想在倫敦定居下來。
hillside ：[ˈhɪlˌsaɪd] n.山腰；（小山的）山坡
metro：[ˈmetrəʊ] n.地下鐵道
clifftop：[ˈklɪftɒp] n.懸崖頂部
哥倫比亞第二大城市麥德林是這方面的先驅者。該國長期內戰帶來的難民湧入了山坡地區。拓寬街道來創造新的公交車車道或者是延伸地鐵線都太貴了，2004年開放的電纜車才是答案。從那時起，卡利、加拉加斯和里約熱內盧（還有墨西哥城）也建立了相似的系統。九月，玻利維亞總統埃沃•莫拉萊斯開放了拉巴斯的第五個纜車。它是世界上最高最長的城際纜車，坐著它可以到達埃爾阿爾託市懸崖頂上的城市。
［4］One reason cable cars are popular is that governments usually subsidise them in order to compete with private buses. Mexicable charges seven pesos (37 cents), less than half of its break-even price. Politicians like them because they can be built without displacing large groups of people; it often takes 18 months or less, in time for re-election. “Mayors think, ‘I’m going to be cutting the ribbon’,” says Mr Dávila.
subsidise：[səb'sɪdaɪs] vt.給…津貼或補貼，資助或補助…
The arts in Europe are heavily subsidised.
歐洲的藝術受到大量補貼。
break-even：[breɪk 'i:vn] adj.收支平衡的
displace：[dɪs'pleɪs] v.取代；置換；轉移；替代
ribbon：['rɪbən] n.絲帶；綬帶；勳帶；（用於捆綁或裝飾的）帶子
She wore yellow ribbons in her hair.
她頭髮上戴著黃色緞帶。
纜車很受歡迎的一個原因是：政府通常會補貼它們去和私家巴士競爭。Mexicable收費是7比索（37美分），比保本價格的一半還少。政客們喜歡纜車，因為它們可以在不移動大批民眾的情況下被建立起來。這種建立通常只要花18個月或更少的時間，能趕在換屆選舉前。達維拉先生說：“市長認為‘我要去剪綵’。”
［5］The jury is out on whether cable cars are worth the cost. In 2012 Mr Dávila and others conducted a study of Medellín’s system, which found that crime fell and jobs grew in areas the cars served. However, the city also made investments in policing and economic development at the same time, which may have been responsible for these gains. The researchers did find that the cable car made residents prouder of their community. People in Ecatepec feel the same way. Bandits go after buses but leave the cable cars alone, says David Ramírez, a passenger. The gondolas' cosy interiors include two facing metal benches, encouraging conversation.
The jury is (still) out on sth：（某事）仍未定奪，懸而未決
at the same time：同時
bandit：[ˈbændɪt] n.土匪，強盜
cosy：['kəʊzɪ] adj.舒適的，愜意的；暢快的；親切友好的 n.有遮蓋的雙人座椅；保暖罩
interior：[ɪn'tɪriər] adj. 內地的；國內的；內部的 n. 內部；內在
纜車的花費是否值得還沒有定論。2012年，達維拉先生和一些人進行了一次關於麥德林纜車系統的研究，發現纜車服務地區的犯罪率下降了，就業機會增長了。然而，這些收益可能是因為麥德林同時也對城市治安和經濟增長進行了投資。研究者發現纜車使得居民對於他們的社區更為自豪。埃卡特佩克的人們有同樣的感受。乘客大衛•拉米雷斯說，劫匪可能在公交車上犯案，但會離電纜車遠點。貢多拉內部很舒適，有著兩張相對著的金屬長椅，鼓勵乘客進行談話。
［6］Residents of Complexo de Alemão, a shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, have no such cause for cheer. Rio’s state government paid 253m reais ($135m) to a consortium led by Odebrecht, a construction company, to build a cable car connecting the area to the city’s metro. That now looks ill-advised. In a plea bargain, the former head of Odebrecht’s infrastructure arm said it had paid 94m reais in bribes and donations to the state’s former governor, who was later convicted on corruption charges, to win a development deal that included the federally-funded cable-car project. For five years, residents rode the gondolas free of charge. But they have been grounded since September 2016, after the state stopped paying the firm that ran them.
shantytown：['ʃæntɪtaʊn] n.棚戶區；貧民窟
consortium：[kənˈsɔ:tiəm] n.財團；組合，共同體
ill-advised：[ɪl ædˈvaɪzd] adj.沒腦筋的，無分別的；不明智
infrastructure：[ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃə(r)] n.基礎設施；基礎建設
arm：[ɑrm] n.分部；職能部門
bribe：[braɪb] n. 賄賂；賄賂物 v. 賄賂
ground：[ɡraʊnd] vi.擱淺，停飛；著陸
corruption：[kə'rʌpʃn] n. 貪汙；墮落；腐敗
對於阿萊馬奧區——里約熱內盧的一個貧民窟——的居民，卻沒有這樣的理由可以歡呼。為了建設一個連接該區域和城市地鐵的纜車，里約政府向奧迪布里切特建築公司的一個財團支付了2.53億雷亞爾（1.35億美元）。現在看來那個行為很不明智。奧迪布里切特基建部門前任負責人在認罪協議中稱，該公司為了贏得開發協議（其中包括由聯邦政府資助的纜車項目），以賄賂和捐獻的方式給了前任州長（此人不久後因貪汙被判入獄）9400萬雷亞爾。五年來，居民可以免費乘坐貢多拉纜車。但是從2016年9月，州政府停止向運營纜車的公司付款後，這些纜車就停飛了。
［7］Despite the Rio fiasco, Latin American cities are still cabling up. Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, will open its first commuter cable car next year. The state of Mexico, which borders Mexico City, intends to build two new lines by 2023. In all, 20 projects are planned in the region. The sky, it seems, is the limit.
fiasco：[fiˈæskoʊ] n.徹底失敗，慘敗
commuter：[kəˈmjutɚ] n.（遠距離）上下班往返的人
儘管里約慘敗了，拉丁美洲的城市仍然在佈置纜車。哥倫比亞首都波哥大明年將開放其第一列客運纜車。和墨西哥城接壤的墨西哥州打算在2023年建兩條電纜線。該地區總共有20個項目在策劃中。似乎天空才是盡頭。
從現實角度講，相對於其他公共交通工具，纜車有很多優點，速度快，視野好，更加環保，而且絕對不會擁堵。但是坐在空中總不如地面讓人安心，而且，有恐高症的人們該怎麼辦呢？不過想想上班是坐纜車，感覺還是很刺激呢。中國大城市的地面空間越來越珍貴了，也許有一天也會向空中發展呢，讓我們期待著纜車的發展吧~
英文原文：
http://www.economist.com
講解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel
翻譯 / 編排 / 校對：Angel
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