Esquipulas Bus
My plan was to talk about cooking in the next blog post, but today I've got mass transit on my mind. Food will just have to wait for another day.
We had to take an early bus into San Ramon this morning for a routine medical test. By early, I mean we left the house at 6:25 a.m. to catch the 6:30 bus, which is the second bus of the day on this route.
We're used to riding in standing-room-only buses. It's the norm. Even though there seems to be an endless supply of cars, trucks, and SUVs on Costa Rica roads, in reality car ownership is a luxury reserved for a small percentage of the population. Most take the bus or a taxi - just like we do. Consequently, it is a rare occasion for a bus to complete its route without at least a few people making the ride on their feet.
But, holy cow, was this bus full! I've estimated that there are about 40 seats on the bus that services our area. And this morning, by the time we were half-way to town (and a quarter of a mile before the elementary school where a dozen children and a few parents off-loaded) there were so many people standing in the aisle that the driver could barely close the front door!
Contrast this with a bus we noticed in Phoenix when we were back there this winter. It was rush hour. We were driving home from running errands and looked over to see that we were passing a Phoenix Metro bus. There was one lone passenger riding about two-third of the way toward the back of the bus.
Okay... Maybe there had been a dozen more people on that same bus a few minutes earlier. We'll never know. But we were not nearing the end of some obscure route. This was on a major surface street, like Bell Road, although the exact location escapes me at present. And while I'm not much of a gambler, I'd bet at least a few colones that it was ever close to full capacity.
Too bad.
Pura Vida
