As the capital of Chile, Santiago has had almost two decades of uninterrupted economic growth.

This has transformed the city into one of Latin America’s most modern metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and an impressive high-rise architecture.

The city also boasts some of the most modern transportation infrastructure, such as the growing Santiago Metro.

The above image is from Wikipedia, and is copyright. The copyright holder allows anyone to use it, for any purpose, so long as the copyright holder is properly attributed.

So this image is held as copyright by Antoine.

The subway system in Santiago is a network of five lines with 106 stations (24 of which are under construction).

It began operations in December 1975 and carries around 2,500,000 passengers per day.

Not only does this system function as a mode of transportation, but it has a cultural and artistic value as well.

Here we see the Universidad de Chile Station, and the giant mural, created by Mario Toral.

It represents the history of the country in detail.

This is another shot of the station near the University.

By all accounts, the Metro is fast and clean. It certainly looks cleaner than our transit system. In fact, all three of these systems look much cleaner than the TTC.

São Paulo is the fifth largest city in the world, and the largest in Brazil.

Not only is it the capital of Brazil, but it is also the richest city.

With a population of 19 million (11 million in the city proper), its metro system is relatively small (61 km. of track) when compared to its European or North American counterparts.

The first line, Norte-Sul (North-South), later renamed the "blue line" or Line 1 – Blue, was opened in 1972.

The present system consists of four colour-coded lines: Blue, Green, Red and Lilac. The Yellow is currently under construction and is due to start operating in late 2009.

The São Paulo Metro carries some 2,800,000 passengers a day, but does not cover the entire urban area in the city. Another company, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM), works along the metro system and runs a light rail service. Metro and CPTM are integrated through various stations, and have received awards in the past as one of the cleanest systems in the world.

The Metrovias serves the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

It was inaugurated on December 1^st, 1913, making it the oldest metro system in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and, indeed in the entire Spanish-speaking world.

It is a privately owned company that took over operations in January 1994, as part of a railway privatization during the presidency of Carlos Menem.

This picture from Wikipedia; it is of the Vintage Line "A" entrance way on Avenida de Mayo(or May Avenue).
This street or avenue extends 1,500 metres in a west-east direction, and is often compared with those of Madrid, Barcelona and Paris due to its sophisticated buildings of art Nouveau, neoclassic and eclectic styles.
The decree 437/97 of the National Executive Branch declared the Avenue a national historic site in 1997. As a result the aesthetics of the buildings could not be changed, including billboards and marquees.

Here is some subway art from four different stations on the system.

The fare is 90 Cents (about USD 0.28) and in fact is actually cheaper than the city buses.

Riders purchase either single-use or multi-use cards (called SubtePass) with a magnetic strip or use “Contactless” cards called SubteCard which can be rechargeable with cash or linked to a bank account for automatic debit.

Now why do we not have something like this on our transit system?

The current network comprises six underground lines (labelled "A" to "E" and "H"), and is further identified by different colours, covering a total track length of 52 km.

Around the ROM

The Queen Alexander Gates were originally built in 1901 and stood on Bloor Street at the north entrance to Queen’s Park. 
The structure was a gift to commemorate the visit of Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later the Prince and Princess of Wales).

The Daughters of the Empire (later the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire, IODE) financed the building of the gate.

The letters E.A. on the gates stand for Edward and Alexandra, the then King and Queen of England. Alexandra was the Duke's mother.

The Duke, of course would become King George V in 1910.

When Avenue Road was widened in 1959-60, the pillars were modified and moved to the head of Philosopher's Walk, the pedestrian walkway located between the Royal Ontario Museum and the Conservatory of Music.

This walkway follows the path of a buried underground stream known as "Taddle Creek".

As you walk along the brick pathway between these two gates you will notice the slight curves along your route.

This underground stream was buried during the “Industrial Age” and converted into an underground sewer.

It runs from Wychwood park in the Annex south down Huron Street and across Lowther.

From there it flows across St. George and Prince Arthur Streets. 

At Bloor Street it curves east and runs south into Philosopher’s Walk, under College and University, and the underneath Sick Kids. 

It winds it way through the Eaton Centre and Massey Hall, before eventually dumping into Lake Ontario, near Queen’s Quay and Parliament.