Guaguas, Buses & Taxis - How do you recognize them all?

Well, you don't stop taxis on the street. You call taxis by phone. The cars you see with "taxi" signs are not actually taxis, they are conchos (like a bus, but cars). Those packed minivans are your buses. In big cities you will see OMSAs which are big green or grey buses, much like those in any other cities, but they are scarce these days.
Then there are the motoconcho which are motorcycles that are used as makeshift taxis.
Where do buses stop? where you ask them too!. OMSAs have fixed stops, but as I said, they don't come very often.

This is an OMSA:
This is a Concho:
This is a guaguita (pronounce wa-wee-ta):
This a motoconcho:

Well, I travel very....well....cheaply. I catch Conchos (the public cars) and Guaguas (the minivans) mostly. The Conchos have a letter sign on the outside doors (K, G, N, M, etc.) and on the inside of the window on the passenger side should be some sort of sign from the transportation people and they should also have an ID hanging from their mirror.
I catch Guaguas to visit folks in Sajoma and other campos such as Hatos de Yaque, I realy can't tell you how to distinguish if they are legit or not other than the fact that if there are no other people in them, do not get on.
Sorry I don't have more information. Ijust pretty much now know which cars to catch to where and the guaguas. Usually the Guaguas have a person that collects the money and this person is usually leaning out of the door yelling out the destination "La Mata! La Mata!" (for Sajoma) or "Licey! Licey!", "La Vega! La Vega!", etc.
I've caught the Onsa before, but only when with Dominicans.
I catch motoconchos only when it is really hot and I don't want to walk the 3 blocks from the Concho stop to my house.
I take only certified taxis at night, I used to take Conchos at night until my son's father found out and yelled at me so loud and so fast in Dominican Spanish that even though I only understood 25% of what he said, I knew that I was not to do it again. LOL


SHALENA

Taxis look just like regular cars, some have a small sign, the size of a license plate stuck between the windshield and the dashboard, and typically have a large CB antenna. When you call for a taxi, they will tell you the number and color of the car picking you up. Never, under any circumstance, take a taxi you have not called for.

SKing said:

Well, I travel very....well....cheaply. I catch Conchos (the public cars) and Guaguas (the minivans) mostly.

SHALENA

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In Sosua and Cabarete public cars are called publicos and they don't have letters on the side, they have boxes on the top.

They and guaguas stop whenever flagged down.

Where are you most likely to be when you visit the DR?

Castle said:

When you call for a taxi, they will tell you the number and color of the car picking you up. Never, under any circumstance, take a taxi you have not called for.

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Really, which taxi company are you using? - Nobody in DR ever gave me the number and color, all they say to me is 'va para alla'.

Derfish said:

There are specific routes the publicos follow. They say so on the sign which rides onthe roof. Ruta Mu?oz for instance ges around Puerto Plata and takes people to Mu?oz and people from Mu?oz to POP on a designated route which asses all 3 supermarkets in town as well as the hospital and the biggest clinics.
Der Fish

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Guaguas also have routes.

VJS said:

Really, which taxi company are you using? - Nobody in DR ever gave me the number and color, all they say to me is 'va para alla'.

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jajaja, I use Apolo Taxi in Santo Domingo. I don't know if it operates in other cities...they usually tell you the cab numer (which is written on the sign) and the car color, sometimes they even tell you the kind of car...

Apollo taxi - 809-537-0000 in Santo Domingo anyway - they almost always tell you how long and what color car is coming. I don't think I've ever waited more than 5 minutes for them to come and they are fair on their rates. example - a Taxi from the Conde wanted 400 for my last ride - called Apollo and it was 150 for the same.

Taxis

@Man?el, I use Apollo Taxi About Me
They always tell you the color, type of car and unit number of the vehicle that's going to pick you up. They usually come quickly and have a standard fare. When you call the central you say where you are and where you're going and they tell you how much it'll cost you and that's what you pay the driver. There's no chance of a driver trying to scam you because you look foreign or naive.

If you arrive at Caribe Tours, you can take one of the taxis there at the terminal. As far as I know of, they are reliable. Never take a "pirate" taxi: Those that you will randomly catch in the street.

If you ride concho car, be aware of your wallet and be careful not to wear any jewelry; I've heard stories of people who've been pickpocketed in public cars.

Hope this helps!

In Santiago, there is also the "Bandarita" (sp).

This is the Bandarita:


Travels the length of 27 de febrero

VJS said:

Really, which taxi company are you using? - Nobody in DR ever gave me the number and color, all they say to me is 'va para alla'.

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Apolo Taxi Santo Domingo, they usually also give the estimated time that it takes from the unit to arrive. They are fast too, according to my experience. In smaller cities they might not do this.

I once called them, took 10 minutes (rush hour), and then I had suddenly three of their units in front of me, one that looked like it will fall apart at any given moment, one that was less likely to fall apart very soon, and one almost new Corolla. The driver of the worst vehicle was shouting "soy yo, soy yo, soy yo", but I (only at this one time) did the wrong thing and went with the new Corolla, since the car that actually had arrived for me, was just in too bad shape (and I?m used to travel in bad shaped taxis)...