Adventures in South America

fun with colectivos!

well im going to dedicate this post to the glorious buenos aires colectivos (public buses)! dont know if i posted on this topic last yr (its worth revisting if i did). well the system here is fairly distinct from what we are used to in nyc. here the buses cover most any corner and direction of the city and there is a guia 't' (guide) that maps out all the routes in very easy to read manner. now riding it is where the fun begins... they move FAST FAST FAST cant emphasize that point enough. basically the buses dont make stops they more or less just slow down and pause - when a group of people have to get on the busdriver screams "listo" (ready?) to make sure no one is hanging off the door and then just starts flying down the street, better hold grandma:) when you want to get off you must hit the buzzer and stand near the door otherwise you are not gonna make it.

other fun colectivo observations, the people get up for the elderly, pregnant and those with children - nice huh? imagine seeing that on a crowded 6 train at rush hour. also, the salesmen!! these guys come on the bus joke with the driver for a minute or so and then launch their pitch. selling socks, pens, who knows what but they have so much energy, and have their speech perfected they end up selling something every time. another fun topic is how much does a ride cost?? its either 75c or 80c (in u.s. $ 25cents or 27.5cents) now when you get on you have to tell the driver how much or where to, if you say 75c you better be ready to say where and hope you are right. if you say the address sometimes they will charge you 75 and othertimes 80 its always fun just to see what you get charged! and finally, one notices a direct correlation between the amount of people waiting for the bus (meaning it hasnt come for a bit) and how many taxis cruise by oh so slowly basically tempting (teasing?) the people to come on in and quit this colectivo madness:)

posted by sethnem @ 7:05 PM