Hispaniola Spanish Language School

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…)