Hispaniola Spanish Language School

What about public transportation in Dominican Republic? 4/10

Long time from the last article! I have been busy dealing with economic situation so my writing skills&ideas were even poorer than the normal.

New year..new hope..but not many changes in transportation in DR. Below we finally start to explain (or try to ..) about urban mass transportation, with particular reference about Santo Domingo city.

Guaguas and Voladoras

Guaguas (often called voladoras) are found throughout Metropolitan Santo Domingo.  They make more stops and are less comfortable than the big buses (see OMSA, below). Often there are not really enough seats for the number of passengers, who are squished tightly together in order to fit in more people; Dominicans are accustomed to this, but it might make you uncomfortable. This kind of transportation is not strictly organized, either. There are few fixed bus stops. Just wave your arms or otherwise signal from the street when you wish to board.  To get off, you often must scream over the wind noise coming in through the windows to make it understood that you want to bajar (get off). Note that a guagua’s ¨crew¨ is usually a chofer (driver) and cobrador. The cobrador is the one responsible for packing passengers in as tightly as possible so as to accommodate more, and he collects the fares.  He is also the one who hangs out the door (with amazing acrobatic skill) yelling out the route, trying to entice as many passengers aboard as possible. If passengers have luggage, he finds room for it, too, sometimes even on the roof, hanging onto it with one hand. When there´s heavy traffic, the cobrador acts as a policeman, directing cars to clear the route, and if any problems arise between two or more passengers or with the driver, he immediately becomes judge and jury. Taking this cheaper kind of transportation can be a fun or frustrating experience, depending on your point of view.

OMSA

Urban service is also offered by OMSA, a state-owned company with some important differences from the normal guaguas—OMSA has large buses, fixed stops, longer routes, and cheaper prices, but they are very crowded. OMSA offer also an Expreso service: same buses but with a/c and lower number of stops than normal ones..it also costs something more.

This time I have to cut the article very quickly. Next argument will be the Metro of Santo Domingo, a brand new mass transportation that deserve some more time and attention. I do not have all the details I need, so I will take my time to study it and give you some relevant information.

(to be continued…)

What about public transportation in Dominican Republic? 3/10 

Hi fellows..finally we will end the first part of transportation, the easiest one and then we will arrive at the core of our argument..the Urban Transportation in DR. We still have a little argument but, as English say: the last but not the least. In fact we have to expalin and you to understand very good the difference between Expreso and Locals “guaguas”. Please note that the term “Local” is adopted by me (it doesn’t exist in the real life),  because I needed a way to differentiate the Expreso guaguas from the other guaguas that are not Expresso…simple, isn’i it? My suggestion is not to ask for a Local Guagua anywhere in Dominican Republic if you want to avoid folkloric answers. So..let’s the show begin!

—-

Locals vs Expresos. A local guagua stops frequently to pick up or drop off people wherever they want along the route.  An Expreso, on the other hand, has fixed pick-up and drop-off spots.  Another difference is that an Expreso accommodates only one passenger per seat (not squished together) and almost always has the air conditioning on, even when the guagua is parked, so the engine is running and all windows are closed (the glass is normally tinted dark).  Locals usually have the windows open, no air conditioning, and are frequently in poorer condition than the Expresos.  Passengers are urged to squeeze at least 5 into seats made for 4 people.  Locals are very popular among Dominicans due to their low prices, but because they stop so frequently (adding extra time to arrival at one´s destination) and are uncomfortable, they are not as appealing as the Expresos to tourists.

Expresos operate out of the metropolitan Santo Domingo area, but mostly for relatively short distances. If you are in Santo Domingo and you want to go to Boca Chica, San Cristobal, Playa Caribe…you need an Expreso. A little farther, like to Juan Dolio or even La Romana, you still want to take an Expreso to save time. Wherever the major bus companies (Metro Tours, Caribe Tours) don’t go, there is an Expreso waiting for you. How do you go to Bávaro and Punta Cana? With an Expreso of course! The route to Bávaro and Punta Cana is a long route, but there are no major bus companies that go there, so the Expresos resolve your transportation problem.  About the only negative thing we can say about Expresos is, because they are express buses, they are frequently driven very, very fast and recklessly.

Carros públicos or Conchos. The carro público is mostly for urban transportation, but there is one route operating between Santo Domingo and Las Americas International Airport, and a few other relatively short routes. These routes are normally served by large vans that accommodate more passengers than a car (about 8) and also have the ability to carry some luggage (for an additional fee). These carros públicos don’t have fixed routes because they don’t make intermediary stops. They also have no schedule, since they only leave when they are filled with the maximum number of passengers.  The advantage?  They are much cheaper than a taxi.

Now we are really done with Interurban transportation..I guess ..wel at least for the moment. In Dominican Republic everything is in continuous and perpetual change so i am afraid that this article may become obsolete very quickly..
Well, in any case with next article I will enter in the most exiting part of this little essay: PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION..(applause..)

(to be continued…)

What about public transportation in Dominican Republic? 2/10

We have seen some generic, now it is time to make some order in this mess called Transporte Publico! To try to proceed with some kind of logic I will divide transportation un INTERURBAN vs. URBAN. Really the difference is very tiny, but it helps in the effort to make some clear. Then I will explain which kind of vehicle/transportation may be available and how to ride it. If necessary some extra tips will be printed In some moment we will also have a look to taxi, rent-a-car and internal flights, but in separate chapter. Also, at the very end I will make a resume trough a glossary of most important terms.

Fare, schedule and routes change very often (when they exist), so I will omit any consideration about. In this case I just give a suggestion: if you are not sure ask around about the fare of your ride, at least to 3 different persons and then confirm it with the driver or the cobrador before onboard. Also don’t forget to confirm anything about the route.

INTERURBAN TRANSPORTATION

Metro Tours and Caribe Tours

Metro and Caribe are the largest bus companies in the country, with large, comfortable buses for long range travel to many different destinations. Their buses are modern and normally in excellent condition, the schedule is strict, drivers are normally well trained and drive in a reasonably safe manner. In order to ensure that you can board a bus leaving at a particular time, you must try to arrive around 45 minutes before the scheduled time.  In particular on busy days and times (for example Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings), or on holidays, schedules can change without notice and buses can fill up rapidly, so it´s better to plan to arrive early and also plan to be flexible.  You might have to wait until the next bus to your destination.

They do not cover the entire territory, so where they don’t travel you normally find an “Expreso”(see below) or a combination of different kind of vehicles.

Metro Tours, Churchill detrás de Plaza Central Santo Domingo, Tel: 809-566-7126

Caribe Tours, L. Navarro esquina 27 de Febrero, Santo Domingo, Tel: 809-221-4422 http://www.caribetours.com.do

Long-range travel may be made also with minor companies that run smaller buses or vans and who normally charge cheaper prices. These smaller buses and vans are often called guaguas or voladoras. A guagua can be any vehicle larger than a normal 4-seats car. The term “voladora” means “flying”..I guess that further explication are not necessary!

Guaguas/Voladoras

They make more stops and are less comfortable than the big buses. Often there are not really enough seats for the number of passengers, who are squished tightly together in order to fit in more people; Dominicans are accustomed to this, but it might make you uncomfortable. This kind of transportation is not strictly organized, either. There are few fixed bus stops. Just wave your arms or otherwise signal from the street when you wish to board.  To get off, you often must scream over the wind noise coming in through the windows to make it understood that you want to bajar (get off). Note that a guagua’s ¨crew¨ is usually a chofer (driver) and cobrador. The cobrador is the one responsible for packing passengers in as tightly as possible so as to accommodate more, and he collects the fares.  He is also the one who hangs out the door (with amazing acrobatic skill) yelling out the route, trying to entice as many passengers aboard as possible. If passengers have luggage, he finds room for it, too, sometimes even on the roof, hanging onto it with one hand. When there´s heavy traffic, the cobrador acts as a policeman, directing cars to clear the route, and if any problems arise between two or more passengers or with the driver, he immediately becomes judge and jury. Taking this cheaper kind of transportation can be a fun or frustrating experience, depending on your point of view.  We divide guaguas into LOCALS AND EXPRESOS

Next article we will se the difference between LOCALS AND EXPRESOS and some consideration about  Carros públicos or Conchos.. tis will end the article about Interurban Transportation and we will enter in the most interesting part.

(to be continued…)

What about public transportation in Dominican Republic? 1/10

Public transportation in DR is kind of a mess for newbies..but note that people use it every day, to go everywhere in the island and it is very economic. More than this it is the best way to know all the last news, happenings, comments and of course gossip… in public transportation conversacions are 360 and include any single passenger. Lots of words have been written about how Dominican transportation is but I have never found a guide or an article about how Dominican transportation works. I will try to give a general overwiev according to my experience but, any comments you may have..please feel free to write me. My effort is to give you the basic understanding to be able to go around the cities and the island by your own.

But, as a philosopher once said:  First things first!..The criticism!

Transportation in the Dominican Republic is not good. It works somehow and it respects some schedules sometimes (I mean that passengers reach any single spot in the island, no matter how far or isolated it is),  but it is not to be considered good by general standards. Tourists may find it funny or romantic or interesting, but please think about those people who are obliged to use such chaotic public transportation twice or more times per day.

Why is public transportation not good?  One reason is that the vehicles used are 90% old and dirty, drivers ignore most rules of transit, driving like they own the road and timing is not a priority. Dominican passengers use the system because they have to do so, but they certainly do not like it.

Most drivers are members of one of two big syndicates (there are a few independents), which have a lot of political power and social impact.

There have been many attempts to try to organize public transportation, but they always fail. There is a government office (OTTT-Oficina Tecnica Transporte Terrestre) that supervises fares, but does not seem to be able to do anything more. One of the last attempts to provide decent mass transportation to Dominicans was OMSA- Oficina Metropolitana de Servicios Autobuses, a public-held bus company created in 1997 with brand new buses, fixed routes, and dedicated traffic lanes. It is still operating, but failed to achieve its main target, which was to provide good transportation service.  In part it failed because of lack of financial support and because of the lobby of driver’s syndicates  that pretend to have a share of the OMSA.

An attempt was made in early 2006 to regulate carros públicos.  They have been divided in two groups (identified by their green or yellow painted tops) that operate on alternative days.  Most of the  cars now bear colors that indicate their route.. but not all.

The next step in the government´s efforts to improve the quality of public transportation is the Metro (see also on wikipedia), which started its operations on early 2009 and so far ..it is really good…now works for a 2^nd line already started…the only problem is that the budget seems something overloading for the actually administration in particular because they still have to absorb the financial effort for the set-up of the 1^st line.

Also: the Santiago light rail system is a planned light rail system in the Dominican Republic’s second largest city, still in developing stages it was said to start on mid 2008 but right now is currently on hold due to lack of approval and of central government funds.

Let’s wait to see what will happen!

On the actual situation, the only transportation operators who offer high quality are the largest bus companies and Expresos (despite the maniacal way the latter are driven).

Anyway, we have to make use of what we have.  Thisis an attempt to explain the world of transportation in the Dominican Republic. Please remember, though, that everything here is in constant flux and that there is no rule that can’t be “adjusted.”  For example, if a driver thinks that it will be quicker to turn left instead of going straight ahead, he won’t hesitate to change his route at the spur of the moment. Another example:  If traffic is really heavy, it´s possible that the cobrador (I will explain later who exactly he is..) will add few pesos to the fare or that an Expreso will turn into a local in the middle of the route.

It is impossible to give you an exact picture of Dominican mass transportation because it is very dynamic and always in flux, but we can give you the information you need for a basic understanding. The rest you´ll come to understand in time by using various components of the system.

(to be continued…)