Transporte Publico en el Peru

As promised, more on the colorful options we have here for getting around town:

1) Taxi


I live in a neighborhood with no regular bus routes, and it's too far from the town center to walk, so I take cabs literally every day. They're yellow cabs just like New York, but there are a few subtle differences.

For example, averaging $1 per ride, Trujillo cab fares are about half the price of a New York City subway fare. (In Lima they're more expensive.) Taxi fares are all pre-bargained, not metered. There's no metal grate or medallion or driver's ID on display; instead, you trust your instincts on which cab drivers to take, and you just accept that a certain % of the time you will end up getting lost, or hit on, or swindled into a higher fare. If you're really unlucky you will end up witnessing an accident or the bribing of a cop.

Fortunately taxi crime is not frequent here, so the worst an average resident experiences are broken car doors and lumpy or unclean seats. And the rule that governs all transportation here, "there's always room for one more," can lead to some cramped but extraordinarily cheap shared cab rides.

2) Combis and Colectivos

As my fellow intern Joshua put it, a colectivo is a bus, only it's really a car; and a combi is a bus, only it's really a van. Either one (car or van) is assigned a route, and then proceeds to drive up and down that route picking up passengers at s/1 or 80 centimos (about 25 cents) a pop. You can get on and off at any point. The route and the fact that it's a legitimate public transport service are identified by the letters on the windshield, for example "A" or "BE". I have no idea how one becomes a combi or colectivo driver, or who pays for the car, but it is definitely the de-facto public transport for most Peruvian cities. I remember Kenya's "matatu" system was very similar, so I suspect this is a common third-world solution to public transport without the gov't having to finance an expensive fleet of buses or trains. It really is quite functional.

Since the poor live on the outskirts of the city, many of them in barrios lining the Pan-American Highway on the road to Trujillo, a colectivo route traveling up and down the highway is the best way to get to one of the poorer communities we work in. They're quite safe during the daytime, the only drawback being that they try to squeeze as many passengers in as possible, so you will probably be wedged into tight quarters with strangers, listening to an interesting selection of very loud 80's music and local cumbia or caribeno.

3) Micros


"Micro" is short for microbus. They are the closest thing to regular buses here, with the cheapest fares, and their general routes or destinations are painted on the sides. Some slight differences include the colorful designs on them, often featuring Catholic slogans and imagery ("Virgen de la Puerta" is a common one), and the guy hanging out the door calling out destinations and soliciting passengers. They're fun to ride but I don't take them much because I'm not acquainted with the routes - for example they may simply name large neighborhoods like "La Esperanza" or "Salaverry" on the side, but I don't know the street names - and because with the larger number of people there is a greater chance of pickpocketing.

*Side note: like any good New Yorker I initially tried to track down the local version of the MTA Bus and Subway map. My search took me to the local tourist office, which referred me to the office of Public Transport (which had an atlas-size book of all the routes), which referred me to the Office of the Development Plan for the city of Trujillo (which had a technical surveyor's map of the city's neighborhoods and routes, unlabeled of course). Apparently a free foldout color map does not exist.

4) Mototaxis

Mototaxis are probably my favorite form of transportation, despite the fact that they are probably the least comfortable. They are basically motorcycles with a seat and a tent-like enclosure built onto a set of added wheels. Depending on how badly they've been constructed, you may find yourself being violently rattled with bad diesel fumes filling your tent. They are more common in rural areas, where they are sometimes the only transport option available, and are slightly cheaper than taxis.


So that's about it. For inter-city travel, there are limited flights available, and most people take the bus. I believe I'll be visiting Cajamarca soon, so more on the bus-cama, cama-cama, and other exciting transport options in a future blog...