The gas lines have ended, but it is still hard getting around Guadalajara. I’ve been here almost two months and still haven’t figured out the bus system. One problem is that the third line of the city’s metro system was supposed to be open by now, but the government ran out of money and cannot complete it. The general assumption is that the cost overruns are due to corruption, but who knows? Anyway, a lot of maps and transit apps assume that Linea 3 is open, and it is not. The abandoned construction also interferes with bus routes. The result is that if I need to go somewhere new, or even somewhere I’ve been a few times before, I need to allow an hour of extra time, and more likely than not, I’ll find myself in an unknown place and end up calling Uber.
I’m generally pretty good with maps and directions, so I don’t think the problem is me – although there could be some trick that I don’t understand. Some of it is that there are multiple routes with the same number. A bus route may have A, B, and C versions, as well as different day, night, and weekend routes. The 636 may have gotten me someplace once, but it may never get me there again.
A second issue is that the routes aren’t linear. They often loop all over the place. A bus that took me to a destination won’t be the same route to take me back. The looping means that the destinations posted on the bus might be at the beginning, middle, or end of the route. Who knows? The bus stops aren’t marked, either. It can be difficult to know if the crowd of people standing in the parking lot at 7-11 are waiting for a bus or for something else, And what bus are they waiting for? It’s a mystery.
Finally, buses take cash – which is nice. The drivers even make change. It adds an element of danger to the ride, though, when the driver is making change while also careening around a corner.
This seems to be a Guadalajara issue, not a national one. I have a Mexico City transit pass, and it has a printed on it. The routes aren’t terribly complicated, mostly linear. The only challenge there was finding out where to buy the pass; many bus and metro stations have machines for adding value, but only a few have a machine that sells cards, too.
Now, you may be asking why I bother taking the bus at all, given that Uber is easy to use here. It’s the challenge. Mastering the transit system here separates the long-time Tapatíos from the new arrivals. The balancing act is a decent workout. And at 7 pesos – about $0.42 USD right now – it’s the cheapest thrill around.
