Peseros – the minibuses of Mexico City

If Mexico City doesn´t amaze you by its hugeness, diversity, unequality, or 26 million of people, it surely will by its public transport. I have already described the Mexican underground, it comes the time to do a similar thing regarding the cult small buses which get you a lift to/from metro, metrobus or get you in the worst of the cases just a few steps from the place you need to get. I like their punctuality, shapes, green-white colours, noise of the old engines and history which reaches surely to 70´s. "Los Peseros"

This means of transport will get you everywhere and is unforgettable. Despite of their age and burden which represent for the environment, you can still see thousands of them rushing the streets of Mexico City. You can stop them on every corner, just lift your arm, jump on it (sometimes even during the drive) and pay the driver. You get off when you wish, just press the bell inside or shout at the driver! There are hundres of routes, but in fact the only ones who know them are the drivers. It will take time to you to get familiarized with your route. The Peseros don´t have any “quantity limit” of passangers, so during a rush hour be sure that you can end up hanging on an aluminium pole placed at the front as well as the rear door like a carpuller at a railway station. Marvellous experience, even better if you´re wearing a suite and a laptop. The Peseros rarely close the door, the drivers love the wind in their hair. There is no schedule, the unit sets off when the driver decides or the „stopwatch man“(the one who check the time distance between the units and indicates to the passangers which Peserao goes which destination). The drivers resemble Formule 1 pilots, scarcely respecting rules, due to the fact they want to transport as many passangers as possible during the ride, during the working day – the driver´s salary depends on them. Sometimes, you´ll take a part of a regular race between the Peseros. Two years ago, the peseros were pushed away from the hugest avenues in DF, Periférico and Insurgentes – nowadays Periférico is operated only by the green “eco-buses”, which don´t stop everywhere and are more expensive and on Insurgentes you will be astonished by Metrobus. What a pitty. No fun anymore!There are basicaly two types of the Pesero drivers – teens, normally with strongly gelled hair type „Mexican hedge or Elvis“; and older gentlemen, age of my grandfather. If you get on the Pesera of a teen driver, you´ll probably experience extremely fast ride, complemented with a disco, reageton, banda or similar style performance on his unit´s radio. And it will play very loudly, there´s a guarantee of waking you up in the morning and screwing you up in the evening, after a hard working day. The Peseros are run by private transporters, but in the DF they are subsidized by local government. That´s the reason why you pay just 3 or maximally 4,50 pesos, depending the distance. Still, according the transporters, the drivers, who collect directly the fare, keep up to 40% a day exclusively for their pockets. Do they steal? "The one who doesn´t steal in the plant, makes his family poor" an old proverb from the communist times says.