Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mexican Buses

We recently returned from 10 days in Mexico, nothing adventurous just Puerto Vallarta, for a much needed infusion of warmth and sunshine.

Among the many differences between Vancouver and Puerto Vallarta are the transit systems. Now I know that the GVRD is a much larger area with more diverse needs than PV but still a few observations are in order:

In Puerto Vallarta the buses run about every 3 minutes well past midnight

In Puerto Vallarta the drivers make change, and calculate multiple fares.

In Puerto Vallarta it is generally unnecessary to be at "a bus stop", just stick out your hand and the bus will stop. Similarly simply pushing the buzzer, or pounding the roof if there is no buzzer, will get the bus to stop pretty much right away.

In Puerto Vallarta the buses often feature live entertainment.

In Puerto Vallarta, on longer routes, food vendors enter the bus at "time stops".

In Vancouver the transit system runs a huge deficit, in Puerto Vallarta the drivers are independent contractors and there are lots of them so I assume it's a money making proposition.

Perhaps a fact finding trip for our Transit Executives is in order.

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