Metro Movements: Bus Bits & Taxi Tips

cccmedia wrote:

to provide guidance, advice and slice-of-life moments re travel...

Bus Bit:

The moment of entering a crowded bus is one of the most precarious moments for Gringos in the city and their possessions.

The pushing gives cover to skilled pickpockets, including "golfillos callejeros" (street urchins) whose eyes are typically at the pants- and purse-level of Gringo passengers.

Especially on the Gringo-preferred Ecovia bus line (Quito), use your hands to protect your pockets and valuables as you board a bus.

cccmedia wrote:

provide guidance, advice and slice-of-life moments re travel...

Taxi Tip:

Learn how to identify licensed taxis, which -- here in Quito -- are yellow and have orange license plates.

Some of the newer legal plates are white with an orange strip along the top.

There are other ways to check for licensing, for instance on the windshield.  The advantage of looking for the color of license plate is that you can see it coming as the taxi approaches. 

If taxis are speeding by and you can't see the plate color in time, you can wave a taxi to you...and dismiss him before boarding if it turns out his vehicle plates are the wrong color and thus it's unlicensed.

There are many white-plated (unlicensed) taxis around town.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

Bus Bit:

Exiting a crowded bus can be one of the trickiest maneuvers in EC city transportation.

Ideally, you want to be positioned near one of the opening doors (typically there are three per bus here in Quito).

The problem is that when new riders come aboard at a given stop, this can result in a bunch of new people between you and the nearest door.

If the bus approaches your stop and you don't think you'll be able to get to or through the door due to crowding, I suggest that you give yourself a chance by letting the folks (between you and the door) know that you will want to get off at the upcoming stop.

"Perdon. Quisiera bajar a la proxima parada."
Pardon me.  I would like to get off at the next stop.

"Favor de permitirme a acercar la puerta.  Deseo bajar."
Please let me get near the door.  I want to get off.

"Bajando."
Getting off.

Sometimes the bus is so crowded, the people can't help you get near the door before it opens.  With groups trying to board and exit simultaneously, this is when it can seem like an NFL line of scrimmage.  Good luck.

cccmedia wrote:

Taxi Tip:

This happens all too frequently...

You negotiate the fare before boarding a taxi.  When you get to your destination, the taxista demands you pay more than was negotiated.

He will say there was too much traffic...it was hard to find the way there...there was some road obstruction that caused a detour...or it supposedly took an hour to get you there.

At this point you have several choices.

You can try to use logic to get him to do the right thing.  (Based on my experience, this won't work unless your espanol is really at its best that day.)

You can pretend not to understand his reason for demanding more cash, pay only the pre-negotiated amount, and hope for the best when you try to exit the taxi.

Or you can "pay the man the two dollars."

I've tried methods 1 and 3, and lately I just pay up while explaining that the extra charge wasn't correct.  You never know what a nutty taxista might do if he thinks a Gringo is trying to stiff him on money he thinks he earned.

The above scenarios also teach that you should be prepared to pay with exact change when you take a taxi.  Otherwise, if you give him a ten-dollar bill, you may be surprised at the amount of change he returns.

cccmedia wrote:

Bus Bit:

Most passengers board at the front door of the bus, but some buses -- due to logistical reasons or if the driver is in a hurry -- may allow folks to enter via the back door.  (So look for that if the front of the bus you want goes past you;  you may easily be able to board in the rear.)

Either way, at least here in Quito, the driver's "ayudante" will find you and collect your 25 centavos.

Usually, to keep an unobstructed passenger flow on a busy route, boarding passengers will enter via the front door at the same time exiting passengers will leave through the rear door.

Ipso facto, it works to take a seat toward the rear of the bus if it is available.

If you had to take a seat near the front -- and let's say you've been shopping and are carrying stuff -- it may appear it will be easier to exit via the front door than to push through a group of passengers standing between you and the rear.

In this case, to avoid confusing the driver and irritating new passengers about to board the bus, alert the the driver half a block early that you would like to exit in the front.  Then be ready to exit quickly before the new passengers clog the front door.

"Conductor, quisiera bajar por la puerta delantera."
Driver, I would like to exit through the front door.

cccmedia wrote:

Either way, at least here in Quito, the driver's "ayudante" will find you and collect your 25 centavos.

I've never seen anyone refused passage on a bus here for carrying a load of stuff.  Quitenos understand that not everybody can afford to take a taxi all the time.

The "ayudante" can be a big help if you need assistance in safely boarding or exiting the steep bus steps while managing shopping bags, etc.  Sometimes he will even offer this service unasked.

The "ayudante" often calls out a bunch of the upcoming stops so that potential passengers know where the bus is going.  So he's a good one to seek out on board if you need to know about a stop, or want to be alerted when you get near your destination.

cccmedia wrote:

Taxi Tip:

If you take a taxi at night, don't expect that the address written on a slip of paper is going to be enough to get you to your destination.  There are two systems of street numbering (here in Quito), the numbers on some streets are almost impossible to read from a taxi at night and, for whatever reason, a lot of the taxistas seem to get easily confused.

Here's the system I use when I go to InterNations evening events, which are typically held at a different restaurant each month.

I bring a sheet of paper with the event location map printed off the InterNations website.  I write the restaurant name, address, phone number and cross street in big letters on this page. I also bring a flashlight so he can better read the map.

When I wave over a cab, I tell the driver where I'm going AND ALSO tell him I have a map.  This gives him confidence that we're not going to get him lost.

If we reach the neighborhood and he still can't find the place, we call the restaurant number and somebody guides him over the phone as to how to negotiate the final few blocks.

cccmedia wrote:

Bus Bit:

In Quito, whenever you can, avoid taking the Trole line to get where you want to go.  It's too darned packed, especially on weekdays, pretty much all day long...and well into the evening.

As Yogi Berra would have said if he'd lived here:  "Nobody takes the trole anymore.  It's too crowded."

The metro (subway) is supposed to open in Quito in 2017 and alleviate some of this problem.  "Vamos a ver."  (We'll see.)

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

Bus Bit:

In Quito...

Aside from reducing overcrowding on the Trole and Ecovia lines, here are three things that I'd like to see done to improve matters on these super-busy lines.

1. More signs at the stations showing the "parada" name.  You now pull into a station and often have no good way of telling what station it is.

2. Clearly audible announcements of the upcoming station name.  If your Trole or Ecovia bus even has an audio system, the announcements usually sound like mud.

3. Replace buses at the end of their lifetimes with state-of-the-art pollution reducing buses.  Nobody can convince me that the black emissions I see coming from these buses is anything but bad for your health.

cccmedia wrote:

Taxi Tip:

Useful phrases:

Please open the trunk.                         
Favor de abrir la maletera.

Please move the front seat.     
Favor de mover el asiento delantero.

Please start the taximetro.             
Favor de encender el taximetro.

Turn right.                                                           
Doble a la derecha.

Turn left.                                                         
Doble a la isquierda.

Go straight ahead.                                                     
Siga recto.

I want to get out right here.                       
Quiero bajar aqui mismo.

Stop immediately.                                         
Detenga de inmediato.

Here we go... Spanish language craziness again.

cccmedia wrote:

Please open the trunk.                         
Favor de abrir la maletera.

The U.S. Border Patrol teaches, "Abra la cajuela."

Not sure which is more polite. I'm just saying that I learned it differently. And as intense as the USBP tends to be, they're fairly genteel in their Spanish. 

cccmedia wrote:

Go straight ahead.                                                     
Siga recto.

This was a matter of angst for me one night in Mexico. I started dating this girl down in Mexicali and drove down one night. For one, I drove across the border with my .38 special under my seat which I didn't realize until later. That was a shitty feeling considering what the policia think of Gringos with pistolas in their cars.

But this girl was giving me directions to a fancy restaurant I wanted to take her to, and it kept messing me up because the words for "straight" and "right" are just one letter off, aren't they? Derecho, derecha.... such a huge pain whilst driving though Mexico with a pistol under your seat thinking the policia are about to pull you over. At least she thought it was funny because I couldn't understand if I was supposed to go straight or turn right.

cccmedia wrote:

Stop immediately.                                         
Detenga de inmediato.

Again, I learned something else. "Parete!"  But the Border Patrol may have a more intense version of "Stop!" than most.   You're not being polite when chasing them, I guess. Also, we'd sometimes say "Alto!" for stop, usually after we'd said "Parete!" a bunch and they still weren't stopping. Actually, it truly didn't do any good at all to yell anything more than once if they were running. One "parete" and then just tackle them into the desert after that because obviously they weren't heeding your commands to stop and talk things out civilly.

Ok, Spanish lesson complete.

BrandonBP wrote:

cccmedia wrote:

Please open the trunk.                         
Favor de abrir la maletera.

The U.S. Border Patrol teaches, "Abra la cajuela."...

Ok, Spanish lesson complete.

F&kkin Sh#te, Brandon, these lessons are never over*.

You're right, of course, there's more than one way to say "open the trunk" or "stop" the taxi.

The verb "parar" (to stop) actually is the one used on Ecuador stop signs:  the red octagonal signs that read "STOP" in the U.S.  Here in EC they say "PARE" (PAH-ray).  I just have found that the taxistas respond quicker to "detenga" than "pare."  I think it's a little more official-sounding.

And thanks for sharing that colorful moment with the chica and the pistola down Mexicali way.

*Oops, I thought we were back on the "espanol for Gringos" thread for a moment there, not "Bus Bits and Taxi Tips."

cccmedia in Quito

Here's another that you'll likely never need to know (at least, I hope not), "Al suelo boca abajo!"

Means: "On the ground face down!"

"Volteyase y ponga las manos en la espalda." - Turn around and put your hands behind your back.

"Ud. tiene el derecho de guardar silencio. Cualquier cosa que dice puede ser usada en contra Ud. en un corte de ley."
You can google that one.

Taxi Tip:

This is about taxi comfort.

I like to ride up front.  If you do too:  before entering the cab, check to see if the front seat has been pulled way up forward.  If so, you can either reach under the front seat ("asiento delantero") and push the bar to move the seat back for adequate legroom, or ask the taxista to do it.

Here in Quito, the drivers love to have their radios on, sometimes good and loud.  In fact, a taxista may have two radios going -- one to hear his dispatcher, the other playing loud music.  It's too much.

If you just order him to turn the music-playing radio off, he may balk.

What works is to ask politely for him to turn it down. 
"Por favor, baje el volumen de la radio."

Since making it a point to ask politely, I've had only one taxista resist lowering the volume.

I then asked:  "No es el derecho del cliente a pedir menos volumen de la radio..." (Isn't it the customer's right to ask for lower radio volume....)

He then turned the sound down low and was cooperative the rest of the ride.

cccmedia in Quito

Taxis are incredibly inexpensive (well, maybe not to the airport) and over 6 years I have had very little trouble over payment. The only hassle has been when they do not want to go where I want them to go (like from the north to Old Town area during busier times). Hardly worthwhile owning a car.

"Taxi Tips" welcomes input from any riders in Ecuador who have tried Easy Taxi, the smartphone app that has spread to 33 countries and 177 cities since its official launch in 2012.  (Statistics from google)

The much-awarded service by this pioneer taxi-call company is available in Ecuador's three largest cities -- Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca.  (Source: the Easy Taxi website)

Google, which named Easy Taxi as one of the Top Apps of 2014, says the service is "loved by 17 million people" worldwide.  Its motto is: "Your taxi in one click."

This is how to become an Easy rider once the app is installed, as described by google:

Wait for the app to automatically locate your address using GPS.
Confirm your location(s) and tap "Request Taxi."
Watch how Easy Taxi assigns a nearby driver.  Follow him on the map.

If Easy Taxi is working as described, it is solving multiple problems for Expats in Ecuador:

1.  It sends only pre-screened, licensed drivers.

2.  It eliminates the need  to speak Spanish to taxi dispatchers involved in calling for a taxi (on a non-smart phone).

3.  It reduces the time and the exposure to the elements involved in securing a taxi when it is raining or during the solar intensity of mid-day in Ecuador.

The taxi-call service is free in most countries served, including Ecuador*.  Let us know if it is working for you.

More details at google and at easytaxi.com

cccmedia in Quito

*Surcharge applies in Thailand and the Philippines.

cccmedia wrote:

The moment of entering a crowded bus is one of the most precarious moments for Gringos in the city and their possessions.
.

Four weeks after I posted here about pickpockets on Quito's Ecovia bus line, I got nipped by another "ladron" today.

This time, it was while getting OFF an Ecovia bus while brushing past a crowd of people who were boarding.  The day after Christmas, no less.

It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that I became aware that my sunglasses, clipped over my belt (bad idea) as was my habit, had been taken.  It wasn't grand theft -- I probably paid six bucks for that pair a while back.

I did an inventory of my clothing soon after and realised that the advice of spreading money around in your pockets doesn't necessarily work on the Ecovia bus line.  Better to consolidate in, say, one or two pockets so you can better protect your money and card(s) during boarding, travel and getting off.

I have used Quito's Trole, Ecovia, America-Prensa and blue lines (each many times) over the years.  However, all three of my grab 'n go losses have occurred on Ecovia ($20 in cash; a cellphone; the sunglasses),
which runs North-South on the Eastern edge of the Gringo-rich Mariscal sector.

cccmedia in Quito

so many tips in Quito. I am glad not stay in big cities.
always take bus in Guayaquil and Cuenca, it's fine. In Cuenca there are about 30 lines bus, you can get the map online or at terminal. No bus map in Gye, need to know some main busstops before take: bahia, malecon, mall de sol, terminal, etc.

netbean wrote:

No bus map in Gye, need to know some main busstops before take

Wow, no bus maps in GYE.

For Quito's main bus lines, including Trole, Ecovia and America-Prensa, maps can be found online.  Lesser lines:  you're mostly on your own except for asking the "ayudante" or "conductor" or another passenger a question.

Maps have been created for Quito's new subway, at least for the first portion of it, which supposedly is to open in 2017. 

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

Google, which named Easy Taxi as one of the Top Apps of 2014, says the service is "loved by 17 million people" worldwide.  Its motto is: "Your taxi in one click."

In the last week or so, I discovered that Easy Taxi is being used by two organisations that serve EC Expats -- at least here in Quito.

InterNations now is promoting Easy Taxi as its "local transportation partner."

When I desired a taxi ride home from the South American Explorers clubhouse on New Year's Eve, my friend John Caselli (partially pictured at right in my avatar photo) contacted Easy Taxi for me via Internet.

Somehow the connection was missed as John believes he saw the taxi with the indicated license plate drive by the clubhouse "esquina" without stopping.  However, I give Easy Taxi a one-time pass because getting a taxi in this town on New Year's Eve would be an impressive feat.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

Bus Bit:

80 percent of women in Quito are "afraid to use public transit" and one in four have been touched inappropriately on the bus system, based on surveys by the city and the United Nations.

Quito's "Tell Me Campaign" is attempting to bring respect to the bus system and to victims of abuse, by "breaking the silence." The city has installed booths where support professionals listen and provide psychological and legal support for victims.

Victims are being urged to speak out and help identify aggressors.

Source: Latin America Current Events