Public transportation in La Paz
05.27.2004Transportation in La Paz is quite varied. There are taxis, radio taxis, trufis, minibuses, and micros. Here's some pictures. Click on any image to view larger version.
Taxis & radio taxis take you anywhere you want. Only difference is you can call radio taxis to a specific place by phone (hence, radio) & they're marked by a plastic banner over the car. There are several radio taxi fleets in the city. Also, radio taxis charge the same per trip, regardless of number of passangers. Taxis charge lower amounts, but charge per person. It's cheaper to take a radio taxi in a group; it's cheaper to take a regular taxi if alone.
After taxis, come trufis. These're cheaper than taxis, but run specific routes (like a bus). They're marked w/ signs that tell you where they go & cost Bs. 3 for a trip from downtwon to the Zona Sur. They're faster than minibuses & micros, but are used only by middle class & above, since they're expensive. You can get on a trufi as long as they're a seat available.
Most common public transportation are minibuses & micros. Micros are the large mammoth buses that crawl through the city. While micros are the slowest form of public transportation, they're the cheapest. The poorest people use micros almost exclusively.
Perhaps the most common & typically paceño public transport's the minibus (or "mini"). These are small (very small) vans that cruise the city almost carelessly on specific routes. There's always a chauffeur who drives, and a young boy or girl who yells out the destinations (even though they're marked on placards) & collects the passengers' fees. You can get from Plaza del Estudiante (on the Prado) down to San Miguel (Zona Sur) for Bs. 1.50. Despite their small size, minibuses can hold between 12-15 passengers. There are also even smaller minibuses that run only short routes (e.g. Plaza Murillo to Plaza Avaroa).
Also, all public transportation in La Paz is privately owned. There are independent taxis, but most belong to one of the several transportation syndicates. Most syndicates own fleets of taxis, minibuses, trufis, and micros (as well as inter-city bus lines). Radio taxi fleets are owned by private companies which may or may not be allied to a transportation syndicate.
Posted by Miguel at 05:50 PM
Comments
Hey tocayo,
I heard about your blog from a fellow blogger. I find your posts interesting. This one about the public transportation will help me get up to date on Bolivian prices :-) I have a blog too and would like to put a link to your blog on my blogroll section. Is that ok?
Miguel
Posted by: Miguel at May 28, 2004 06:48 AM
Nice post, very ilustrative. I guess people from abroad must find this kind of posts interesting since you show some day to day facts of Bolivia that tourists find amusing.
Posted by: Daniel at May 28, 2004 08:46 AM
Interesting post.
Posted by: tom at June 5, 2004 12:11 AM
sounds like bogotá before transmilenio (and still, really). thanks for the info, keep on posting.
http://www.transmilenio.gov.co/transmilenio/index.htm
Posted by: jessica wade at June 24, 2004 06:22 PM