Getting around the biggest city I've ever lived in

At some point in during SST in Perú, and probably in most of countries that Goshen College has SST units, every group member will most likely write home about, get frustrated with, or not understand the transportation system. For me, it has been no different. At first glace, the bus system of Lima seems a little bit...how should I put this...ridículo. Before coming to Lima, I figured I’d be able to survive well living in a big city. I lived in Albuquerque for a year and had the bus system down pat; I traveled to Europe and could easily decipher the bus and subway maps.
However, here in Lima there’s just one problem – there are no transportation system maps! Basically it’s a bit of a free-for-all; the local government does not control the bus system as we would expect in an American city. Rather, private companies convert vans and buses of all sizes into working public transportation vehicles, locally called kombis. Because of the competing companies, and differing bus routes operated by each outfit, it would be impossible to produce a map of all the possible bus routes in Lima. Well, I guess you could, but it would just be a wild mess of multi-colored lines over the already chaotic roads that make up the various areas of the city.
So, how do you figure out what bus to take? Well, fortunately you can simply recognize specific buses by their appearance, in fact, by four aspects of their appearance – the color, the numbers, the letters, and the street names. Various buses have differing colors based on what company they are owned by, but the color will also sometimes represent what route the bus runs. I guess that’s not particularly specific, so let’s move on to the numbers.
The problem is that there will be more than one number. First is the route number – the one you want to look for. But watch out because each kombi will also have numbers that distinguish it from the rest of the fleet of that company, as well as registration numbers that are given by the state. So, you really have to look hard sometimes to find the route number that you are looking for.
In addition, you have to be aware of the third aspect of the appearance, the letters. Oftentimes routes will have variations, which will be represented by letters, A, B, C, etc. For example, I take the 45B bus to school in the morning, and I have to make sure I don’t grab the 45A, because I really have no idea where that would take me. One note though, sometimes the number and letter will be together in one place on the front of the bus, or the 45 might be one place, and the B will be in another corner of the windshield, so watch carefully!
Finally, the names of some of the major streets that a bus travels on will usually be written on the side of the bus. So, it’s often a good idea to check those out before you get on. The front of the bus will also have two names, usually of neighborhoods, written above the windshield, that represent where the bus goes to or from. I did mention that it’s easy to pick out a bus based on its appearance, right? One thing about the names written on a kombi – they’re not always necessarily correct. The vehicle might be old and be traveling a different route that what the outside specifies. So, it’s a good idea to ask as you get on the kombi if it will be going to the place where you want to go. And be specific! Ask for the intersection you want, or the block number of the street you want.
In the states you’d just assume ask the driver of the bus, right? Well, don’t even attempt that in Lima – the kombi drivers have some pretty insane traffic to deal with and have to keep their attention on the road. Instead there is a second guy on each kombi, the cobrador, who is like the doorman of the vehicle – he’s who you want to ask. The cobrador is probably my favorite part of the Peruvian transportation system. They usually sort of half hang out the bus and shout at people like an auctioneer selling a quilt at a Mennonite relief sale. “Toda la Marina! Toda la Marina!” they might shout as they point at various people on the sidewalk trying to get them to board the kombi. All the while they are responsible for walking around the kombi asking for pasajes, or fares.
And walking up and down the isle of a kombi is not an easy task, as they are usually packed to the brim with people. I haven’t decided what I like less, sitting in an isle seat with people standing in the isle crowded up next to me, or standing in the isle, crowding the poor guy in the seat beside me and hanging on tight as the kombi rapidly speeds up and slows down between stops.
Lima’s public transpo is obviously a bit confusing and exciting and I’m could easily keep writing about experiences on kombis. I know I don’t nearly have this system figured out yet, and no doubt there are mistakes in what I just wrote, so I’ll probably have to write another post on this same topic. For now I’ll just leave you with one final word of advice, make sure you shout out to the cobrador when you want to get off, because it’s a fast paced world on a kombi and it’s not going to slow down just for you.