Panama Real Estate
For Sale, For Rent
Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo



In the last 8 years, Panama has had an incredible growth. Tourism, construction, the Panama Canal, banking, every area seemed to be thriving, and got the country to touch amazing growing rates comparable only with China (9% - 10%). But there was an area that was left behind: public transportation.

With the change of government on May 2009, Panama´s new President Ricardo Martinelli made it clear that one of his priorities would be to modernize the public transportation system. Between his first projects once in office was the creation of a department to design and execute this project. Today, they finally released the design of what they´ve called the Metro Bus, a mix system that would use urban buses and a metro.

The economic impact of this project for the entire city of Panama will be tremendous. But for Casco Viejo, having the main terminal into the old Train Station at Plaza Cinco de Mayo, will be simply great. For years, the Oficina del Casco Viejo has studied and tried to lobby for the reinstallation of the trolley, which used to work at the historic city back in the 30´s.  This would connect Casco Viejo cleanly with the rest of the public transportation system, clearing out parking spaces and making a smooth transition into a historic pedestrian area.

While the MetroBus hasn´t yet touched the Casco Trolley issue, the community is already working a plan to position this project as an important axis of Casco´s tourism development, another priority for President Martinelli´s administration.

Find more about the Metro Bus plan at La Prensa HERE  " Metro partirá de Albrook"