It’s a plane, it’s a bird…nah, it’s just a Buenos Aires Bus.

Here’s some simple advice if you want to get to know a city bring a pair of comfortable shoes! Walking is really is the only way one can experience a city’s nuances, layout, and over-all rhythm.  However, if a city is as vast and spread out as Buenos Aires, that is simply impossible.

There are many forms of transportation here: taxis are inexpensive and plentiful (an average ride will cost you about 10 to 12 pesos which works out to about $3 US) and the subway (Subte) is efficient and stunning structure that unfortunately is rendered useless because it shuts down at 10; 30 each night. Besides, experiencing Buenos Aires underground is like going the Rio de Janeiro and never going near the beach.

The best way to get around Buenos Aires is therefore above ground by bus. Buses here are ubiquitous and as much a character in this city as the tango. City buses as known in Buenos Aires as coletivos and they unlike any other network of public transportation you will ever experience. There are hundreds of routes, and a seemingly endless array of them on any street at any time of the day. The network is so complicated that there is a small pocket sized book called the Guia “T” that is in the hands and pockets of every porteño. I’ll admit, at first the idea of figuring out the way the bus system works sent shivers down my spine; given the little Spanish that I spoke, and the less I understood, I thought it was simply impossible, but then, after studying the Guia T and some simple tips from a friend, I figured it out and my life became as simple as steaming cup of café con leche (that’s coffee with steaming milk).

First of all here are some facts: the buses in Buenos Aires are active around the clock, 24 hours a day. The cost of an average ride, depending on where you go, is about $1.10 -  $1.25 peso which works out to be about 35 cents.

Now how to make it work is a little bit complicated.  First off, after purchasing your 6 peso Guia “T” from any newsstand, you look up the street name and number of where you are starting from the front-page index. That will give you a corresponding map, and mage number in the book. When you flip to the map you will see a grid line boxes that marks out each area. Find your “square” and keep the page handy. Then you look up the address of where you want to go by once again returning to the front-page index and make your way to the directed page. Follow the procedure as before (so in the grid pattern find the address on the map). Now, you have two basic maps; one stating where you ARE and where you want to GO. On the opposite page of each of these maps you will notice a grid pattern that matches each map. These grids are filled with boxes, all of which contain various numbers. These numbers are bus lines that pass through these areas. Find a corresponding number in both boxes, and viola… you have discovered which bus will take your from point A to point B. Simple? Well, not so fast.

Now that you have found which bus number will take you to where you want to go, you must flip to the back of the book and track down the listing for that particular bus line. Under that bus route you will see all the streets and intersections the bus makes. Once you figure out what street contains a pick up location make your way to the bus stop. Each bus line has it’s own bus stop, which is pretty great; so if you are talking the number 47 line, there will be a number 47 sign post. However, standing under a bus stop though does not mean that the bus driver will stop at the bus stop. When you see the bus you wish to approaching (and it usually comes at a pace of 80 miles an hour) you hail it, just as you would a taxi. You then get on the bus and tell the bus-driver the bus stop /intersection you are getting off on. He will then tabulate the distance on his keyboard, and you will proceed to a machine behind him and put in the appropriate change in the slots (NOTE: Bus drivers do not provide change so make sure you have change on you). When you have put in the required fare a receipt appears, Take it and sit down and, this is most important, HOLD ON. The bus travels at hurricane pace—much like the bus in the Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock classic SPEED. Keep your eyes peeled for your stop though, because unless you press the buzzard the bus driver will not stop. Mind you, he won’t stop anyhow, he will likely slow down a bit, and you basically jump out.
 
So there you go. Having done this a few times you will become a pro, a regular porteño, with a few extra dollars in your pocket.