Santo Domingo Metro

President Leonel Fernández proposed and started the construction of the first subway system in the Dominican Republic and the second in the Caribbean. The actual first phase of the overall "Master Plan" for the Metro took place once Fernandez had proposed the construction of the Juan Bosch Bridge. The bridge was built with support for two heavy rail lines on the deck that until the third line of the system gets built are being used for regular vehicle traffic. This phase took place under Fernandez's first administration and with very little public knowledge of the Master Plan.

The project was prompted by the need to reduce the continually-rising heavy road traffic congestion; the current disorganized and inefficient public transportation system; and air pollution, which severely affects the residents' productive time and the health. The system will complement other forms of public transportation such as OMSA (Metropolitan Office of Buses Services) buses, with the government estimating that around 100 feeder buses will be in service. The first line of the mass-transit system has sixteen stations: six elevated, ten underground. It has a total route length of 14.5 km (9.0 mi) and connects Villa Mella in Santo Domingo Norte with La Feria in Santo Domingo. That is expected to bring relief to the city's current public transport system. Daily ridership is expected to be about 200,000 passengers once other lines or at least the feeder bus system is integrated. The first line opened for commercial service on January 30, 2009.

On September 23, 2007, President Fernández while on a trip to the East Coast of the United States announced that stations on the Santo Domingo Metro were not to be named by the streets that they intercepted but instead named to honor important historical people of the Dominican Republic. On February 25, 2008, during the final testing before the official inauguration of the line by President Fernández, Ing. Diandino Peña announced the official names for the stations.[11]

In the presidential elections that took place on May 16, 2008, President Fernández was re-elected for his second consecutive term. However, long before his re-election, companies that specialize in studying land composition had begun drilling holes specifically around the area at which Line 2 (along Avenida John F. Kennedy, a major throughway in the city that turns into Duarte Highway, connecting the city with Santiago) was being built.

Line 2 runs east–west under Avenida John F. Kennedy from the westernmost metropolitan stretch of the city to the eastern part of the city. The line would be underground in its entire 22 km (14 mi) course and intersect Line 1 in the heart of the city. Line 2 will cost about twice as Line 1 to complete because of its length. The economic burden that it would place on the national budget caused the decision, which was officially announced in September 2009, to construct it in two phases.

The first phase will be from Los Alcarrizos to Puente de la 17,[12] where it will cross the first line. A second phase will complete the line from Puente de la 17 [12] to San Isidro, in the eastern portion of Santo Domingo Este. Images gathered in news sites and forums show that construction is more advanced than what the government initially wanted to inform the press. Ultimately, the project has been reduced to ensure the conclusion and operation of a second line by the end of the 2008-2012 presidential term. Line 2 will operate from a station at Avenida Gregorio Luperón to a station before Puente de la 17, at Avenida Francisco del Rosario Sánchez.

Line 2 opened on April 1, 2013.[8] An approval for an expansion of the second line was issued January 2014,[9] and construction began on April 1, 2014.[10] The extension was completed and was officially opened on August 8, 2018.[13]