Riding the buses within Juarez

Juarez buses are cheaper (15-20 cents) than their El Paso counterparts, and much more efficient at getting the passengers to their destinations. They generally operate much earlier, and much later, depending on the part of town they serve. On the other hand, they are definitely dirtier. You can get just about anywhere in this very large city by bus. However, you had better speak at least decent Spanish before you get on one, unless you have someone else teach you the route beforehand. They generally do not have set bus stops; you just wait somewhere on their route, and wave them down. Getting off the bus requires you to shout, "Baja!", loud enough for the driver to hear you. One more thing: the central take-off points for the various routes are spread out all over downtown, but mostly between within 2 blocks of Miguel Ahumada, from Vicente Guerrero south about 4 or 5 blocks.

The area I am talking about can be gotten to like this: Walk south on Juarez Avenue. Pass 16th of September. Juarez Avenue ends at Vicente Guerrero; turn left there. The first stoplight (the second one is at Francisco Villa - there is a nice statue there) is Miguel Ahumada. You will see Hotel Aremar (I have no idea how long that hotel has been there; I never noticed it until I started taking these pictures) at the intersection. There are at least two bus stops at that intersection. Anyhow, turn right (south) on Miguel Ahumada. Keep your eyes open, and you will see about 10 different bus stops all around there, within about 4 or 5 blocks.

If you look at the links page on juareztraveler.com, you will see a link to a site with a map, broken into 4 zones. The area I am talking about is in Zona 3 on that map, but the street that I believe is Ahumada is not labeled - it seems to be the one that goes through the word 'la' in 'de la paz.' Here is the link to that map: http://visitajuarez.com/zona3.html.

To my knowledge, there is no written info on the routes. There is no schedule either, except for the first and last runs of the day. Except for that, it isn't a problem because they run much more frequently than they do in El Paso. Mostly, you figure out which bus you want by 1) reading the markings (in white shoe polish) on the front window. Also, the buses that all run a certain route frequently are painted the same, and have the same number on them. 2) walking around where the buses start and end, reading the markings and asking people. You can ask the drivers, or the guys with the clipboards that take notes at these start/end bus stops.