Before I moved to Costa Rica, I lived in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. There is not really any public transportation there to speak of. A 15 minute cab ride can cost you $50 USD or more—and taxis aren’t crawling over the city and usually have to be called in advance. There are some buses but not many and not widely used, and only within the city save for a few. There is one train that runs between a couple cities. Carpooling is incredibly rare; I often got crazy stares when I told people I carpooled.
I always bemoaned this. We lived in an area that frequently got ozone alerts and yet every person drove a big empty SUV or a dualie diesel pickup truck that stood almost as tall as a house. People asked me WHY I drove a little hybrid. People complained about the horrid traffic, about sitting on the interstates (with engines running, mind you) for hours on end, and yet it never occurred to them to get the cars off the roads.
When I moved to Central America, I sold my car and I don’t intend to buy any transportation—even a scooter—for myself. I rely completely on public transportation. And I CAN.
Costa Rica has a great bus system. Okay, yeah, schedules aren’t posted and sometimes you have to wait and wonder a bit. But you can purchase “directo” buses between cities if you wish for around $6 USD. These buses run several times a day between most cities and can get you all over the entire country with few stops. The regular buses cost about 375 Colones, which is $0.75 USD. The buses are highly utilized. Often you’ll have to stand because every seat is taken. (The other day in my neighborhood of San Pedro, a gentleman stood up and gave me his seat when the bus was crowded. He wouldn’t sit back down even though I insisted it wasn’t necessary. So I thanked him and sat.)
Costa Rican taxis are everywhere. Sometimes you have to negotiate a higher price if the destination is close. You have to make sure the meter is on or you’ll get charged an outrageous price. But otherwise, a 15 minute ride will cost you no more than $10 USD. Once I took a taxi and split it with 6 other people. We each had a left butt cheek in our lap as we all sat sideways. We laughed the entire ride. I’ve sat on laps a few times in taxis to make room for others.
Quepos and Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, are about 10-15 minutes apart, and they have an AWESOME casual transportation system. If you’re walking or standing alongside the one road that runs between them, regular drivers will flash their lights and honk at you. If you wave, they will stop and give you a ride between the two cities for 500 Colones, or $1 USD. Sure, I wouldn’t recommend a woman to do this alone, but it’s so great. I took several of these “collectivos” when I lived in Quepos.
If you want to be really fancy in Costa Rica, you can book a shuttle for 10 or so people between most cities for about $50 USD. These will take you 6 hours or more for that price.
I lived 45 minutes by car from my work in Tennessee. That was a relatively normal commute. In Costa Rica, I live a 5-minute walk from my work. I am healthier because I walk at minimum 1.5 miles per day (500 meters there and back and each way for lunch).
I’m currently visiting Guatemala. Here they have these awesome old souped up school buses for the bus system. School buses, you may recall, have brown bench seats that are comfortable for 2 people. In Guatemala, you squeeze three people to each bench and then another 20 or so people standing in the aisles. The other day I climbed onto a bus by swinging open the rear door and squeezing into a mess of human limbs and bodies tighter than the first row of a rock concert. These are referred to as “chicken buses.” I have even seen buses with people hanging off the outside. Yeah, you have to watch your things and make sure you don’t get pickpocketed (my bra is my wallet here). But people are friendly and never grumpy about the extremely tight quarters. You can share a smile with your neighbor or strike up a conversation. Once Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” came on the radio and half the bus started clapping and dancing along with the song. A bus costs about 4 Quetzales, which is about $0.65 USD.
In Guatemala, they also have tiny 3-wheeled vehicles called “tuc-tucs” that serve alongside taxis. These babies can’t possibly use much petrol.
Come on, United States. You’ve got some ’splaining to do.
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