Easy Going by Bus

As a carefree, adventurous GI Bill student in Mexico City 40 years ago, I probably contributed to the lore about sharing rides with chickens on rickety Mexican buses as I explored the country on a shoestring budget. Things are much better now, and on my many trips back I’ve run into countless Americans my age seeing Mexico on a budget by bus--but in comfort and safety. All it takes is flexibility, patience and some rudimentary Spanish.

Mexico has dozens of companies providing four distinct classes of service, inexpensively blanketing the entire nation from Tijuana to Cancun. Most of them offer deluxe and first-class service, as well as second and third class.

Clase de lujo (deluxe class) is sometimes called servicio executivo, Pullman or plus. These buses usually are late-model Mercedes Benzes or Dinas built in Brazil, similar to scenic tour buses in the U.S., with big windows, restrooms, air conditioning and individual reading lights. They are designed to carry up to 50 passengers but usually have seat configurations for 36 to 39; the seats are airline-first-class style, reclining, with considerable leg room. Free snacks and beverages are served, and three or four overhead closed-circuit video screens play recent movies.

Typically, these buses depart and arrive on time, offer advance reservations and seat choice, and as much as possible run on toll roads nonstop between cities.

Good examples of lines offering such service include ADO (Autobuses Del Oriente), serving the Gulf coast of Mexico from Matamoros and Reynosa, south of Texas; Omnibus de Mexico, Turistar and TN (Transportes del Norte), serving other regions south of Texas; ETN (Enlaces Terestres Nacionales), serving the central region; and TTUR (Transportes Turisticos del Bajio), operating out of Queretaro and Leon.

Clase primera, or clase 1a--first class--buses also use newer equipment on fixed schedules, but carry up to 50 passengers in a configuration of slightly narrower and closer reclining seats. These buses usually have an on-board restroom and videos and sometimes provide a skinny sandwich and a soft drink on departure, usually from the same camionera central (central bus depot) as deluxe buses.

On longer routes, first-class buses make rest stops every couple of hours (sometimes, it seems, at the driver’s cousin’s cafe). Reservations are not usually possible, but seats are assigned. Departures are frequent, and a competing bus line’s counter is always just down the row in the terminal.

Clase segunda, or clase 2a--second-class--lines are the workhorses of Mexico’s national fleet. They tend to use older equipment, sometimes even with school-bus bodies, and carry at least 50 passengers plus occasional standees. There’s no restroom or air conditioning.

On most routes, these buses make numerous stops, and travel time between major cities can be twice that of deluxe and first-class buses.

Passengers are typically campesinos and working-class men, and women with restless babies, often carrying immense bundles on board. Drivers allow street peddlers on at stops to sell ice cream, fruit, tacos, souvenirs, lottery tickets.

Once, on a bus between Pachuco and Queretaro, a guitar-and-squeeze-box duo boarded and serenaded us, the captive audience, with off-key ranchera music. After half an hour of this, they passed a sombrero from back to front, deducted their fares (or a cut for the driver) and jumped off at the next little town to cross the highway and catch the next audience heading back to their starting point.

Tickets for second-class travel aren’t available more than half an hour before departure time, which may be delayed while waiting for a full load or expected late-arriving passengers.

Clase tercera, or clase 3a--third class--buses, although not so labeled by their operators, are the majority in Mexico. These are mostly very old, sometimes ancient, equipment with no amenities, operating mostly between small towns. They take on everybody with an outstretched finger along the road in rural areas, along with all their produce, handicrafts or poultry, leading Mexicans with typical good humor to jokingly refer to them as polleros (“chicken buses”).

Tarifas (fares) differ between classes, but even the de lujo service preferred by most Americans is comparatively inexpensive: A two-hour trip, about 100 miles, usually costs $10 to $12, lower classes even less. (A 10% to 15% overall increase is expected this year.) Last fall, I completed a 1,400-mile journey visiting 14 cities for a total of $74.40, using a mix of clase de lujo, 1a and 2a buses. Compared with auto rental rates or the cost of driving one’s own car, traveling by bus is a true bargain for the budget minded.

However--and this is the bane of U.S. travel agents--schedules and fares are generally unavailable. But departures are frequent at major terminus cities like Tijuana, Nogales (south of Tucson) and Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo, on the Texas border, with several lines and times to choose from.

City bus stations--camioneras centrales, sometimes dubbed terminal or central de autobuses--are a welcome and fairly recent improvement. Previously, each company operated its own sometimes ramshackle depot in sometimes crummy neighborhoods, loading passengers at the street curb, with luggage and bus-shipped cargo exposed to potential thievery. That is less of a problem in the newer central terminals. Still, it’s a good idea to watch until your luggage is stowed on your bus; loading mistakes can happen.

The trend in most cities over the past decade has been to bring ticket counters and loading areas of several companies into a single huge, specially built terminal, with a secured parking yard and passenger amenities such as cafes, newsstands, short-term equipaje (luggage) checking and disinfectant-reeking restrooms (which usually require a 1- or 2-peso propina, or tip, for the attendant).

In some cities, there still may be separate terminals for higher- and lower-class services, or a crowded, antiquated terminal, as in Morelia. But in several cities, including Guadalajara, Veracruz, Puebla, Toluca and Queretaro, there are new, big, squeaky clean bus terminals. The only drawback is that they had to be built on cheaper land in outlying areas, requiring a taxi ride into town.

In Mexico City, the national transportation hub, four suburban terminals have been built for lines serving the northern, eastern, southern and western regions of the country. Some of the terminals are connected by Mexico City’s subway system as well as city bus lines and taxis, but all are at a distance from each other and most of the city’s tourist areas.

From long experience, I recommend starting any day’s bus travel as early as possible, which means staying overnight in the departure city. I’d include Mexico City in this regard. There is some very limited long-distance bus service out of the international airport; for most cities, you’ll have to start out from one of the four regional terminals.

All terminals, in big cities or small, will have a taxi rank just outside the front door and security officers on patrol to chase off pickpockets, hustlers and beggars inside. Nearly all employ sweepers to keep the waiting areas clean.

(The U.S. Embassy’s advice is: Do not hail a cab; if someone approaches you at the terminal or on the street and offers a ride, do not take it. In the larger city terminals, go to the taxi sitio [office or counter], where you can buy a voucher for a ride in an approved taxi. Or call ahead to your hotel, and they will send a taxi.)

As for vehicle safety on the road, don’t be influenced by the occasional news stories about buses taking leaps off cliffs. Given the billions of passenger miles of bus operations throughout a country with the world’s greatest concentration of high mountain ranges crossed by vehicles, bus accidents may be inevitable. However, nearly all involve lower classes of equipment, operated in remote areas on somewhat iffy roads by sometimes less than competently supervised drivers.

Top-drawer lines, with their concentration on passenger safety as well as comfort and convenience, give assurance that vacationing via bus in Mexico is far less a calculated risk than suggested by horror stories mindlessly repeated by folks who have never actually tried it.

When traveling long distances with several stopovers for sightseeing, foreigners can reasonably assume that bus service (of some category) to wherever they are going will always be available after a short wait--regardless of whether or not they have a schedule or reservations in their pocket, and sometimes even late at night. But they must allow a little extra time to get from their hotel to a terminal, choose a bus line going their way and buy a ticket.

A knowledge of Spanish is extremely helpful, since few terminals are tourist-oriented and all signs and public address announcements are in Spanish. A small complication is that sign nomenclature does vary somewhat from city to city. Example: andenes, carril, puerta (walkways, lane, entry) are all used to name the spot where you should stand to board, while puerta, despididas, salida (door, departures, exit) all lead to that same spot.

Foreign travelers can improve their Spanish language skills by watching the bus video if it’s a Hollywood movie with Spanish subtitles (although long-winded speeches tend to be translated as just “Ay, Dios!”).

In fact, among the few negatives of Mexican bus travel is that one can’t escape the ubiquitous video screen on the better-class buses. Bring a good book and earplugs.

Also, cliches aside, bring toilet paper (the bus’ supply may not last on a long trip) and packaged hand cleaner or washcloth.

Additional things to bring: a good map, a small bottle of pure water or a soft drink plus something to eat on overnight or lengthy runs. A shawl, serape or heavier coat will also be welcome on night journeys.

Now you’re ready for traveling in the real Mexico. Buen viaje.