los colectivos (the bus in Salta)

In Argentina the buses are referred to as colectivos, not autobuses.

I must say, I love the buses in Salta.  (Once I had a bus card). 

There are a lot of bus routes in Salta, they are not perfect, but they are pretty darn good.  There are 8 general routes that the buses take, but most numbers have more than one route i.e. 7A, 7B, etc. The buses are most useful for exiting the center of Salta, such as going to Spanish class for me. 

The bus that I take every day to and from class picks me up 2 blocks from my house and half a block from Clinica Guemes, where I have been spending most of my clinic time.  I was nervous about learning how to get my stop the first time because I had no idea how to figure it out, but the city is laid out well so I knew I had to get off the bus at Tomayo, which I am pretty sure is not labled, but I also knew that the address I was going to is 2240.  It is a block over from the bus route, but the blocks are numbered the same, so I could just watch the numbers climb as we passed houses and businesses and when we hit 2100, I hit the button to stop and viola, I did it.

The bus comes frequently and is way more convenient than any subway system, even than DC. It works because traffic is never really bad in Salta, many people walk and take the bus system so a "slow ride home" might take 15-20minutes instead of 10-15 in good traffic.

Another thing I like about the bus system is the courtesy that continues from other parts of this country.  If a child or an elderly adult gets on the bus, immediately, a person in a seat gets up to give it to them.  Many times during rush hour the buses get very crowded so it is even more helpful, and more of a sacrifice, but this is the norm. It is also the norm in places like banks to let elderly adults and adults with young children or pregnant women to the front of the line. It makes perfect sense but never happens in the US outside of some public transport and I haven't noticed it in other countries.


Some tips for anyone who wants to ride the bus:

Another thing to know is that there are specific bus stops within "el centro" but after that a bus will pretty much stop on any corner, so if you want to take the bus back, just lift up your arm when you see it and it will stop for you.  Likewise, just press the button to stop at any block you want.

You must pay for the bus with coins in exact change but it is difficult to get a hold of coins here. So with a card, just like a metrocard at a major US city, you hold your card near the machine and it prints you a receipt so that if "an authority" comes on the bus, you can prove you paid.  There are signs at many kioscos "SAETA RECARGA" at any of these kiosks you can buy a card (6 pesos right now) and recharge it as needed.  These locations are more or less listed on the bus company website as well.

If you need to find a specific stop within the city, google: saeta nuevas paradas and the PDF you find has a map of the stops in the center. Easy.
 
www.saetasalta.com.ar/