Cobradores

jabejuventus

Bronze
Feb 15, 2013
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While shopping for a car, i.e., waiting for someone to shop me the right vehicle, I'm using public bus transportation. My initial apprehension regarding this method quickly changed to a respect for the system and those who use it. In particular, "el cobrador," the guy (haven't seen a cobradora yet) who collects fares like the conductor would on commuter trains back home, is unique. He hangs out the doors calling shots, and makes sure no one is left behind. So far they have all exhibited politeness, professionalism, and good memory for knowing the faces that need to be charged (they do not use reminder tickets as they do on commuter rails).

A shout out to the ridership too. The ladies are generally well-coiffed and their nails well-manicured, amongst other attributes. All-in-all my bus riding experience has been a pleasant and rewarding one. Oh, I do a lot of walking and moto riding to get places also. What say the DR1 community about bus riding in the DR?
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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I am in Santo Domingo and several years ago I thought the transportation system here was the craziest thing on earth............. but once you learn the system it is really a great way to get from point A to point B. I once thought I could never live without a car but in SD it is so easy to do especially living in Gazcue.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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i enjoyed traveling in a guagua because each trip was an adventure. i have seen buckets of (live) fish, giant cakes, furniture an various assorted items being transported. i traveled standing on the step or squished between/under/atop dominicans. it was fun while it lasted. now i appreciate comforts of own car.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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I use guaguas and carro publicos too.....
Buy an xtra place or 2 if u want space.......
Guananico/imbert. 50 pesos in a carro publico.
Imbert/POP. 35 pesos (I think ) in a guagua.
If in luck carro publico Guananico/POP direct. 100 pesos.

I dont go very far on a 100 pesos of gasolina in my Suv......
 

jabejuventus

Bronze
Feb 15, 2013
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On my second bus ride (still not confident) I happened onto the bus as boarding was just beginning. I got on and was brushed by a lady getting off. The bus was empty. I picked a seat in the second row. There was a half full/empty bottle of Gatorade on my chosen seat. I thought the lady that brushed me must've forgotten it and that if she missed it she might come back for it. I put it on the seat in the first row and sat down. Forgetting about the Gatorade, I began to make myself comfortable when I was abruptly interrupted by a lady sternly looking down on me and asking "Adonde esta la botella que estaba en ese asiento?" I hesitated slightly before I told her that I had put it on one of the seats in front of me and felt I had done a good deed. The lady recovered the bottle, sat next to me in the seat where she had left the bottle, but continued to look disdainfully. It hit me in that moment that the bottle (or anything else) left on a seat is actually a placeholder. Live and learn.

Today, God's honest truth, I was first on the bus and so sat in the first row (nothing on any seats that I could see). Almost immediately, the driver turns to me, hands me a spray can of some kind of cleaner, and mumbles some instruction. I thought he wanted me to clean the seats, or something, until again it became clear that he wanted me to put it on the seat next to me as a placeholder. The seat was filled again by a strikingly good looking woman. Hooray for ridership. Hooray for learning
 

RonS

Bronze
Oct 18, 2004
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I am in Santo Domingo and several years ago I thought the transportation system here was the craziest thing on earth............. but once you learn the system it is really a great way to get from point A to point B. I once thought I could never live without a car but in SD it is so easy to do especially living in Gazcue.

I love Gazcue and I'm bewildered by the transportation system there. Please! Tell me, what's the secret?
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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I love Gazcue and I'm bewildered by the transportation system there. Please! Tell me, what's the secret?
Make plenty of mistakes, make a few more mistakes and sooner or later it starts to come together.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I love Gazcue and I'm bewildered by the transportation system there. Please! Tell me, what's the secret?

Indendepencia goes East to the Zona.. Bolivar Wsst to Lincoln.. some of the gua guas and buses make the loop around the Parque Independencia. But I never really need to go further than Gomez or the Zona or Lincolm unless I am sightseeing.. then I just ride the bus and ask the passengers where we are and when i should get out..

Avoid rush hours .. Here is a map of the Buses and subways.. Santo Domingo Transit Map - OMSA and Metro de Santo Domingo on Google Maps!

There does not seem to be a map of the carros. This is indeed secret and indigenous knowlege. I am impressed that Big Bird has figured it out.

Someone clearly knows that there are 208 carro routes because that is in the paper./ And Domnicans that I know, KNOW how to take two and three to get from here to there.

I found this great map Informacion de transporte publico BuscaTuRuta and hoped that it would give me directions which it will, but only in Mexico.

OF course, here la gente qui ande valle nada and you are worth Nothing if you do not have a car. Evidently the savvy NYer thing of NOT owning a car is a ways down the road. I have met people here who have never even been in a taxi.. which, at under $5 a ride to anywhere, no matter how long you have to wait, is still the most luxurious form of transport in the hemisphere.

You do take your chances with the quality of the cab. Appolo used to have a grade a fleet but now even some ot their cabs have the door handles missing and the windshield cracked.

My favorite cab.. well, not the favorite. but the one that I always take, it is the one that I ask the guys at the door at Americana to call for me.. it is about a zillion years old, is driven by someone's uncle Jose, who has an amazing chatter box line of stories. I have ridden with him about three times, and he is always so greatful.

And another favorite is the one from Blue Mall, which are really like Limos.. well, they are still cabs.. but so sparkled clean and neat and fresh and roomy.

But I do like the buses.. except when I have to ride backwards. You can see everything from up top,.
 

jabejuventus

Bronze
Feb 15, 2013
1,437
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I love Gazcue and I'm bewildered by the transportation system there. Please! Tell me, what's the secret?

Tell where you want to go, ask how to get there, ask the bus drivers if they go there. You don't need to rely on making mistakes to learn. Also, Dominicans, contrary to what some may think, "no comen gente." If you don't know the translation to the enclosed quote, rest assured that any bus driver/cobrador will understand where it is you want to go in any language. MA's best advice, IMHO is, avoid rush hours. Buena suerte.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
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On the contrary.. not only do they not eat people but the folks on the buses are great. They always adopt a gringo. I got on one just going down the Malecon, figuring I would ride to the end of the road and as we were going out of town, my neighbors started turning and asking me WHERE I WAS GOING??? and I said I did not know, I was just a tourist. And they said NO, You are NOT. Not here. You must get out at the next corner. And walk North a block and take a bus back.

My Spanish was not very good at the time and I was nodding a lot and they kept repeating themselves to make sure I understood. They were all concerned saying that I could not just go.. to .. well. Haina, I guess it was.. And two of them were ready to get out and walk me up to Independencia to get a bus back. But I assured them that I understood.

But it would be great to have a map of the carro routes. I did even go on the government sites which issues the permits.. but alas.. no maps. Guess that is still to come.
 

jabejuventus

Bronze
Feb 15, 2013
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You are making the assumption everyone on this board speaks fluent enough Spanish to understand the driver.

Once you utter your destination all you want to hear and/or see from the driver/cobrador is si o no, or body gestures that refer the same. If si, the cobrador will tell you when to get off. Also, I try not to assume much. Good advice for everyone.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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........But it would be great to have a map of the carro routes. I did even go on the government sites which issues the permits.. but alas.. no maps. Guess that is still to come.

Yes indeed, I remember a few years back bachata posted a map for the carro routes in Santiago.

I know there are several publicos by parque independencia that go down bolivar. Once they get to Gomez they go different routes. I would get in the publico I thought was the correct one. If it got to Gomez and wasn't the one I wanted I just got out and jumped in another one.

As long as you know the main streets it is hard to get lost in SD.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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Pronounce the name of your destination as best you can. The cobrador will say si or No. If one cannot understand that you shouldn't be here for sure. ..............
I probably drifted a little off topic. In SD centro the major means of transportation is the carro publico. When you see five or six publicos zipping down independencia you don't have the privilege of asking a cobrador. You need some before hand knowledge so you know which one to flag down.
 

jabejuventus

Bronze
Feb 15, 2013
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Aren't carro publicos vans? I took one yesterday, and it had a cobrador. I'm not in SD, so I don't want to "drift" either. But where there's a will there's a way.
 

Makinater

New member
May 4, 2013
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Reckon you must be living in a good area, you don't have to travel too far and not during rush hour.


Gazcue is a good area indeed, close to the Malec?n, Maximo G?mez, not far from la UASD, Zona Universitaria - pretty central. And with a Metro station close by (Joaqu?n Balaguer), I wouldn't complain about public transport myself if I lived there. But I do live in the outskirts of Santo Domingo where it takes me more than an hour to get downtown (not during rush hour, of course, for that you have to double or triple the travel time). Public transport in SD is logical, even though it takes some time to understand the system and learn the bus/carro p?blico routes. But it is by no means a great way to get from point A to point B, IMHO.