Commutes suck, but some cities make it better.
CNN has decided that Hong Kong has one of the world’s coolest commutes, with its Mid-Levels escalator slowly but steadily bringing workers up and down the steep hills of Central.
As Hong Kong often proudly boasts, it’s the world’s longest outdoor covered escalator system with 21 escalators and travelators transporting people across 800 metres.
(The city is not shy about using every qualifier it needs in order to beat world records, as proven by the “World’s Largest Outdoor Seated Bronze Buddha”.)
The Transport Department says that in 2010, about 85,000 “pedestrian trips” were taken on it every day.
We don’t think it’s quite as cool as the other commutes on the list, like the world’s first “urban bicycle lift” in Trondheim, Norway (it’s like a ski lift, but for bikes), or the five-mile stretch of frozen canal that residents of Ottawa, Canada, ice skate along to and from work.
But we’ll take it. It sure beats having to get on the MTR during rush hour.
Photo: Mathieu Thouvenin via Flickr
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