On the buses

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[click to translate] Rev.

Regular readers of our blog will have noted that we spend a lot of time on buses. Below we list some of the things that make buses special in Costa Rica.

We have liked travelling by bus as it immerses you more into the way of Costa Rican life. It allows you to be amongst people going about their day-to-day lives. In our few days of travelling by hire car, we quickly noticed how much more cut off from other people you become as you just get in the car, go to where you want and get out again.

A lot of people travel by bus in Costa Rica because it is so cheap. Usually the fares are fixed regardless of how far you are travelling. The fare from Heredia to our house takes about 10 minutes and costs a fixed 165 colones (about 20p). The journey from Heredia to San Jose, which can take anything from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes depending on the traffic, costs 340 colones / 45p (from the cheapest of the bus companies). In fact, our bus journey from San Jose to the Caribbean, which took four hours only cost 3900 colones / £5!

The buses in Costa Rica are run by lots of different companies, so you can often travel to your destination via a number of different buses and routes. Even within the same bus company, the buses can range in size and quality from former US type school buses with hard seats, to coach size buses with soft reclinable seats. The bus that we usually catch from Heredia to our house is one with hard seats, this is especially unfortunate as the route it takes involves going along some very bumpy pot-holed roads. If the driver is in a hurry it can be a real bone-shaker.

It would appear that the same bus drivers often run the same routes every day with the same buses. So a lot of the drivers have decked out their own corner of the bus with family photos, stickers or flags. We even rode on one bus where the driver had pimped his stereo system to include full size speakers and a subwoofer. This might be an idea for a new TV show "Pimp my bus"!

Buses in Costa Rica also seem to be far more reliable than their UK equivalents. Some of the buses only run every 20 or 30 minutes, but you can rely on them leaving/arriving at that time. On the most popular routes (such as between Heredia and San Jose), at the most popular times (rush hour) you will even find buses lined up behind one another at the first stop. When one fills up and drives off, the next one immediately takes it's place and it fills up.

Buses in Costa Rica usually have two doors - one at the front and one at the back. So when getting off you can select the exit most convenient - usually the one that doesn't send you down a big hole in the road. Most people get on the bus at the front, but we have seen folks get on at the rear then walk inside the bus to pay the driver.

You can get change from Costa Rican bus drivers. True, they wouldn't accommodate you if you handed over a 5000 colones note, but it's likely that up to 2000 colones you would get change. The bus drivers have to account for their days takings and if they are short then they have to make up the difference themselves. The total amount of passengers each day is known because at both sets of doors there are electronic detectors that count every coming and going. The ones at the front can either be right at the doors or after the driver - it's best not to hang around these areas as it could count your passing more than once, which will only upset the driver.

On the major bus routes you will often get someone come on the bus to collect money for a charity or organisation. They will give a short speech about what they are representing and then "sell" little items such as pens, pencils or stickers for a donation. They seem to get a lot more donations than we would expect a similar attempt on a UK bus would get.

They have a reverse gear on buses in Costa Rica. Ok, so the buses in the UK will also have one, but how often do you ever see a bus reverse? Here in Costa Rica, it happens all the time - pulling out from stops, trying to get round corners, etc. And if you are a pedestrian or the driver of a car behind, you'd better keep out of the way or take evasive action because the bus won't pay much attention to you.

Last but not least, politeness still exists on the buses in Costa Rica. Many years ago when we were children travelling on the bus in the UK, it was not uncommon for males on the bus (including boys) to allow women and elderly to have their seat. Well this still happens in Costa Rica. Even male teenagers will often give up their seat on a full bus to allow a female of any age to sit down. This is all too rare in the UK nowadays.

We would also like to state that we have not seen any chickens or any other farmyard animals on buses in Costa Rica.