Panamá City Transportation

Although I'm sure there's some way to get to the city on public transportation, we opted to take a taxi from Tocumen airport (PTY) which is the international airport. We went outside the terminal to the taxi ranks and asked what the fare was from someone official looking, the man loading the taxis said it was $28 to the Doubletree which was in line with what I read before leaving home. While I couldn't find a taxi rate chart, there apparently is one and the fares should be standard from point a to point b. The taxi ride only takes 20-25 minutes in good traffic. Our driver didn't know where the Doubletree was but he asked on the way out and found it with no problem.

The colorful buses adorned with graffiti like paintings, multiple hood ornaments and christmas lights are known as Diablo Rojo or Red Devils. I wasn't brave enough to jump on one of the crowded sweaty buses that I had no idea where it was going but should you be, the ride costs only 25 cents. One of our guides, when we asked about the cleaner city buses that had no one on them, said that people prefer to ride the red devils because they are cheaper, 25 cents compared to 75 cents.

I must have seen a hundred of these buses but I never took a good picture of one, just this one at night.

Walking is not something most Panamanians do, the hotel staff looked at us kind of funny when we asked if we could walk here or there. From our hotel to El Trapiche it was maybe 15 minutes on foot but they suggested we take a taxi. Drivers are a little crazy in Panama so proceed with caution if you do go on foot!

The city is building a metro / subway system and are slowly phasing out the diablo rojos and replace them with modern buses. The new buses currently service the same routes as the diablo rojos (and look decent) but I heard that they will eventually be rerouted to connect people to the metro system.

I took a picture of the proposed metro system, which is planned to be completed in 2013.

I just went to Panama City in December 2011. From what I've been told, the taxi prices are based on zones and # of people. Also, you can hail a taxi even if it is not empty. They will pick you up if you are going in the same general direction.

My friend and I are not good at bargaining and my Spanish is almost non-existent. Since we were not using taxis too much and the price differencial does not seem too much when split between 2 persons, we did not bother to bargain unless the price sound exorbitant. I jotted down all the prices for your reference - they are for 2 people and these are probably tourist prices rather than local prices.

Tocumen to El Congrejo - $35 + toll of $2.50. This is the one I am very iffy about. I thought I confirmed with the taxi driver that the fare was $25, but he said I heard wrong when we arrived at the hotel. It was late, we just paid him rather than attempting to argue.

El Congrejo to Albrook Airport / Albrook Airport to Multicentro Mall- $10. We arranged for the taxi to pick us up at 5am, so we were told that we'll be charged more. It appears the regular price is $5. We actually asked him to pick us up for the return trip for $10, but again probably had to pay more because he had to come and wait for us.

David Airport to Boquete / Boquete to David Airport - $35 (we heard you can probably get there for $25-$30). We arranged for the same driver to pick us up a couple of days later. He actually arrived more than 15 minutes earlier than the arranged time.

Multicentro Mall to Amador / Amador to Casco Viejo - $10. Not sure what is the true price for 2 people. I am going to guess $5 to $7.

Casco Viejo to Cinta Costera - $2.

Multicentro to Mercado del Mariscos - $3. One guy quoted $5 on the return ride, so we just said thank you and found another cab.

Multicentro Mall to Tocumen - $25 (same driver as the one who drove us to Albrook and he was going to cover the tolls. We decided to pay him a bit extra for the tolls.)

Hope this helps to at least establish some upper limits / tourist prices.

Just west of the Albrook Airport, you can find the southern terminus for the Panama Canal Railroad. This railroad runs from here across the Isthmus to Colon and offers passenger service with one 0715 daily departure. The railway was originally completed in 1855 and was the World’s first transcontinental railway. Return time from Colon is 1715.

Copa Airlines is a good way to get from the US to Panama. There are very frequent flights and Panama City is a hub for the airline. I was very impressed with the timely service and very quick turn around when I was flying through.

Despite having a 1 hour connection flight, everything went smoothly and the crew was very reassuring about the turn around time.

Business class on this airline is like domestic business class and I was shocked to find that the LA -> Panama leg had no entertainment in flight at all.

Taxi fares we paid during our visit in Dec 2007.

-from Bella Vista area to Via Espana/Argentina (El Cangreho area ) : $2 USD
-from Hotel Riande Continental to Albrook Mall : $2 by taxi on the street day time, $ 5 in the evening; Hotel charged $ 10 for the same trip.

-from Bella Vista to Old Panama : $ 4
-from Old Panama to Multi Plaza mall: $ 2
-from Multi Plaza mall to Bella Vista: $2.50
-from Bella Vista to Restaurant Bucanero in Amador: $4 daytime; $8 at night from there back to the city.

-from Bella Vista to Tocumen airport: $16 to 27, what a range .

-from Bella Vista to Multi Centro Mall in Paitilla: $1.50 ; we've been quote $5, of course we didn't take it.

Usually within 50 cents, I didn't even bother bargaining. Average price within the city is still $2.

Must confirm price before getting into the taxi, most drivers will quote you tourists rate especially the ones with newer cars.

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2010 08

We just got back from PNY . The rates above still stand.

From central Pny to Albrook Mall, for example, is 2 $ max for 2 persons. There are still honest taxi driver out there :) and one of them quoted us $ 1.75 for the trip. Local folks do not and will not pay over 2 USD for that distance.

Others are still very much out to scalp tourists. Example : a taxi guy quoted us 5 USD from Albrook mall to central Pny. LMAO of course we walked and went with another taxi.