By Bus, Mexico City

METROBUS is a new system in the city.
This bus will take you from north to south or the other way around - all the stop stations are in Insurgentes Avenue.
The cost of it is around 4 pesos per ticket.
This bus will be helpful in order to move further without taking the metro.
Just avoid it in clock times (8-10am - 6-8pm) they are FULL

Microbuses haven an approximate schedule: from 5:00 to 24:00 hrs. The fare varies according to the distance traveled.

Buses only pick up passengers at established bus stops. The price varies according to the distance traveled.

Electric trolleybuses only travel on some avenues and pick up passengers only at established stops.

The Touribus is the best way to get to know this awesome city. You can buy one- to three-day-tickets. Three days are most worth it though, as e.g. I myself for the first day did nothing else but a round trip without hopping on and off, but marked the want-to-see-sights for the next two days. This round trip takes three hours - if you're not resting, so you can easily get an impression of how big this city really is. The next two days you can take the Turibus to get to the sites you marked the first day. The good thing about it is, there are stops althrough the city center, so you can hop on or off wherever you want to, although it says, start of the tour is the Auditorio Nacional. Besides there are stops near sites that - without this bus - would take you some time (and nerves) to get there.
Some of the places the bus stops are:
- Condesa
- Museo Tamayo
- Zocalo
- Monumento a la Revolución
- Museo de Antropología

Taking the bus in Mexico is both cheap and efficient. There are lots of different companies that drives all over the country. You can take everything from expencive deluxe buses to cheap, bumpy "chickenbuses".

If you plan on covering a long distance by overnight bus it might be better to pay a little bit more for a first-class bus. They don't always go direct, but they have just a few stops. The second-class and other buses stops at every corner, and people come and go all the time, which makes it very difficult to sleep.

All of the first-class buses, and many second-class, have both TV and air condition. Normally they show an old american movie with spanish subtitles.

Local bus: fare depends on distance traveled, minimum 3 pesos, about 0.30 dollars, for the first 5 kms.

Volkswagen Combis (referred to as Combis) are very used as colective units with an established route. They usually connect with metro stations and bus stops. Fare depends on distance traveled.

For those who are concern about safety getting around the city, the Turibus is a safe option.

Note: 2 or 3 days pass must be used on consecutive days.

Pro:
- very safe way to travel around as there is a security guard on board
- staff speak good English, very friendly and helpful
- buses are new and clean, just as they look on the web site
- waiting area (usually marked by their red banner on a light post) is generally safe and there are others waiting
- route visits most of the major sites with pre-recorded audio guide, good overview for first time visitors
- buses are not crowded as they strictly control the number of passangers on board
- buses come around every 15-30 minutes as advertised BUT you may not be able to get on at times (see next section)

Con:
- during peak hours (1pm - 5pm) at popular stops like Zocalo or Auditorio, the waiting line can be long. This is because they count the number of people that got off and let on the same amount. So in the afternoons, most people are leaving the sites as opposed to arriving so the line can queue up to 40+ people. This means waiting 2 or 3 buses (if only a few people get off each bus) which can be more than an hour. Twice, we walked to the stop before Zocalo in order to get on the bus.
- route is fixed so no flexibility to avoid traffic
- service stops at 9pm at whatever stop the bus is at, so time your destination correctly as you may not be able to make it due to traffic; ask the staff

We had 5 full days in Mexico City, plenty of time, so this was a leisure option for us. We were travelling with 2 children so safety was our priority.

Hope this helps.

Camión.
Autobús Urbano.
RTP.
(Red de Transporte de Pasajeros).
(City bus).

In Mexico City -August 18th, 1981- was created a transport organization denominated R-100.
On May 6th, 1989, after a strike, the R-100 was occupied by the Federal District government.
From April 5th, 1995 to September 26th, 1997 the R-100 was declarated in bankruptcy, thanks to corruption from our civil servants.
Finally, on January 31th, 2000 the R-100 was declarated extinct.

The city inhabitants were seriously affected, and at the same time was created the RTP and start operations at the beginning of March, 2000 with only 200 new buses (and near 1,000 old buses) but signing immediatly ($38 millions USD) to buy other 300 buses.
Today RTP has about 500 'modern' buses -made in Germany- and some old buses too ready to serve of inhabitants from 135 suburbs and other poor neighbourhoods.
RTP offers special night routes from 23:00 to 06:00 hrs. Also, there are some buses equiped to help handicapped persons.

To sume up, new RTP buses transport 750,000 passengers a day, on 1,400 buses that covers 100 routes (more than 3,000 Km.) and 2,500 stops along the way from 04:00 to 23:00 hrs. with a $2 MXP ($0.20 USD) fare.
Also, RTP buses help to reach subway stations and cut down the air pollution levels and traffic...

It looks working well and we hope it continues in the same way for a long time!

City transport system needs an inprovement, RTP is just the beginning.

Tranvía Turístico.
(Tourist streetcar).

When you come to downtown, go for a ride on "Tranvía Turístico". It´s not a real streetcar, it's a bus that looks like an old tram from the beginning of 20th Century.

This tourist transport offers a 45 minutes travel within Centro Histórico (Historic Downtown) -since October,1993- to know curious facts and ---leyendas---, oldest buildings, streets and places to understand the ancient lifestyle of the city inhabitants.

Open everyday all round year from 10:00 to 17:00 hrs. Adults fare is about $4 USD, childs fare is $2 USD. Not expensive and has only 20 seats.

You can choose for different tours according to your interest (different fares) and time (up to 2 hours). There are a night tour. The special tours include visits to Templo Mayor (main Temple), Palacio Nacional (national Palace), Catedral Metropolitana (metropolitan Cathedral) or small museums.

This transport also offers tourist guides in English and French languages only for special groups (at least 20 persons).

Just cultural destinations.

Autobús.
(Bus).

Buses from USA/Canada or South/Central America to Mexico City, make connections to major border cities, from which Mexican bus lines depart often to many other cities.
When you come from another town in Mexico, the bus is the best alternative: highly reliable and safe (most cases), confortable and not expensive.
If you plan stopovers on route, make sure that your ticket is written up in advance.

Mexico City has four long-distance bus terminals located close to Metro (subway) stations, the cheapest and most efficient method of transport between them and the city if you have little or no luggage.
All stations also offer services as restaurants, money-exchange booths or banks (ATMs), post offices, luggage storage, and long-distance telephone booths where you can also send a fax.

Central de Autobuses del Norte.
(North Bus Terminal).
Is the largest of the four and is located about 3 miles north of the Zócalo.
Autobuses del Norte subway station, Line 5 (yellow).

TAPO
Terminal de Autobuses de Pasajeros de Oriente.
(East Bus Terminal).
Is located about 1 mile east of the Zócalo and is the closest to the airport.
San Lazaro subway station, Line 1 (rose).

Observatorio.
Central Camionera del Poniente.
(West Bus Terminal).
It's about 5 miles south west of the Zócalo.
Observatorio subway station, Line 1 (rose).

Taxqueña.
Central Camionera del Sur.
(South Bus Terminal).
It's about 6 miles south of the Zócalo.
Taxqueña subway station, Line 2 (blue).

IMPORTANT:
Platform announcements are mainly/only in Spanish.
There are only a couple or no bus services connecting the terminals themselves, ride a taxi if you need it.
When you get to the bus station, buy a ticket for your taxi (safe) at official taxi desks (with fixed-price tickets), inside terminal.
It isprohibited to carry bulky items on the subway.

I can tell you that busses here are very fast, because driving with a bus in Mexico City is like being a passenger in a race car. Be sure that you are the first one to get on the bus if more people are waiting. By that you have the time to sit before it is leaving. They don’t wait until you sit to follow their race. If you are the only passenger are the last of a group, better hold on or you will end in the back on a not so comfortable way ;-)