There’s nothing to fear but buses and colectivos

I explained to my students one day that I have two fears in Chile.

# 1. Buses

# 2. Colectivos (shared taxis)

On Thursday I rode in a colectivo for the first time. I was with a Chileno who did the talking. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I’m pretty sure tonight I’m going to ride in a bus. We’ll see how that goes.

The following information about colectivos is a blend of my own experiences and what others have told me. The information about buses is what I’ve learned from my friends and students.

Facts about colectivos:

1. A colectivo is a shared taxi.
2. All colectivos have specific routes they circuit through over and over. Like a bus/taxi… sort of.
3. They have signs on their roofs with numbers and neighborhoods to indicate where they go.
4. You can get in a colectivo at a specific spot (they usually congregate in plazas) or you can hail one like a cab.
5. When you get in, you say where you want to be dropped off and the driver tells you the fare.
6. The fare is different depending on how far you go. I paid 350 CLP ($.65) to go about 11 blocks.
7. There is nowhere to find information about the routes or prices or locations of the stops. “You just have to know it,” I’ve been told.

Facts about buses:

1. All the buses are privately owned.
2. Bus drivers are paid based on the number of passengers they pick up per day.
3. Facts 1 & 2 mean there is a lot of competition to get bus passengers.
4. Buses have set routes.
5. Numbers and colors indicate the routes, along with big signs stuck on the windshields.
6. There is one price per ride – no matter how far you go. There are reduced rates for students.
7. Information about the route, where the bus will stop, or what time it will be at any given stop is not readily available. I haven’t seen a bus schedule anywhere, and I don’t think they exist.
8. You can signal for a bus to pull over so that you can read the signs and if it is the wrong bus, you just wave them on and pull over the next bus. (Advice from a student that I don’t plan to take.)
9. You can stop the bus anywhere along the street. But, if a police officer catches them stopping to get you at an unofficial stop, the driver might get in trouble.
10. You can ask the driver to drop you off at an unofficial stop and he probably will – as long as no police officers are around.
11. I am more afraid of buses than colectivos.