A Surprising Vehicle for Beautiful Design

Beautiful design and public transportation are not usually mentioned in the same sentence, but it is apparent here when you see the city busses (collectivos). The bus lines each have a similar but distinct look with the same colors and overall designs so that you can recognize the different lines from a distance without even having to see the number of the bus. For example, we have a choice of two different busses to ride between Belgrano and Palermo: the 60 is mustard yellow with red and black accents and the 118 is red, white, and blue. 

A beautiful feature on almost all of the busses is filete or filetado. A Porteno art form, this decorative painting style was popularized here in the late 19th Century. It is characterized by ornamental scrollwork and florid garlands, often incorporating the blue and white bands from the Argentine flag. The military government banned the use of filete from 1976 to 1983 in favor of straight lines and right angles. This typography is now used gloriously on city busses as well as on some store signs and in public areas.

Although I have seen a few plain interiors, most reflect the driver's personality. Some are totally tricked out with black lights, curtains (to block the sun), decorative mirrors, pictorial shrines of Jesus or family members, music, disco balls, and more. It makes stepping onto the bus interesting because you never know what you will see.

Using public transportation is essential for getting around this enormous city. Although the busses are privatized (so no crosstown connections), they are subsidized by the government so it is extremely inexpensive -- between $1.10 to $1.25 AR or around 30 cents USD -- to ride the bus.

The fare machine on the bus says "Indicate your destination" (in Spanish, of course), which I took to mean that I was supposed to tell the driver where I wanted off the bus. After some confusing moments, I listened to what other people told the driver, which is the amount they think they should pay. 

So now I tell the driver "uno veinte" ($1.20 AR) then put my change in the machine. (The machine does not take dollars, so we always have to carry change.) Then the machine spits out a little ticket that looks similar to the paper in a fortune cookie. No one has ever asked to see the ticket, but I keep it in my pocket just in case.

People are incredibly gracious when the children are with me. They insist that I board first and someone always offers their seat so I can sit with Boy/Girl on my lap. Boy and Girl enjoy riding the bus, which is fortunate because we ride it home from school every day. Children under three ride free, but they seldom charge us for Boy even though he is five.

Although the busses are generally clean, a few have been nasty. I have had a few occasions where I have had to move seats because I was nauseated by the smell of urine, and wasn't sure if it was my seat mate or the seat itself.

Besides being inexpensive, busses are also very efficient on the road. The drivers go ridiculously fast when not stuck in traffic, sometimes barely stopping for riders to get on or off. The busses are almost as fast as taking a taxi -- their sheer size and aggressive driving allows them to rule the road. I feel safer on the bus than I do in a taxi.

Here are some pics, mostly taken at our terminus, Barrancas de Belgrano, on a sunny Sunday morning. It was a fun excursion with Boy (who is still obsessed with transportation) and we didn't have to inhale all of the awful exhaust because the busses were parked and not running.