Public transportation in Montevideo and Uruguay
Palacio Salvo in Plaza Independencia, Montevideo.
In
this post I will tell you about the system of public transportation of
Montevideo and Uruguay.
In
Montevideo you have a fair amount of options in public transportation such as buses, taxis (or cabs), Uber, trains (few destination and few frequencies
though lower price) and remises (higher prices but better service). In Uruguay
you also have long distance buses and short distance buses
If
you want to be like every Montevidean and really feel the true nature of the
city then your best option it is to ride the bus (called “bondi” here). You may not be so comfortable, but look on
the bright side; you will save a lot of money!
The
bus ticket is $28 (USD 0.89), you can access to a 50% discount if you are a
student of certain institutions.
You
can expect a normal frequency of buses from Monday to Friday from 6 am to 12
pm. Weekends frequency tends to decrease a little. After 12 pm it is almost
impossible to catch a bus as their frequency descends to about unit per two
hours.
There are two apps by the city government
that will totally save your life. The first one is called “A que hora pasa?” (Link here)
And it tells you when is going to pass the bus you are expecting by tracking
your position by GPS. You can also scan QR codes that are in the bustops or
enter the address. The second will be particularly useful if you, like me, have
no sense of orientation. It is called “¿Cómo ir?” (Link here)
and it tells you how you can go from a one place to another by bus (telling you
all the possible bus lines you could use) or by walking (and it tells you the
distance you will have to walk). It also shows you your route in a map that you
can print.
Although you can always ask if you don’t know
where to go down there’s an excellent and free app called mooveit (click here
to download it if you have android (get it on google play, download on the app store)that
will warn you when your stop have arrived.
If
you are planning on staying some time you should think on getting the STM
(Public Transportation System) card. You can get it at this places
with your passport for free. The card allows you to make one hour travels
(“viajes de una hora”) where you can take two busses in one hour for the price
of one. You can also make two hours travels (“viajes de dos horas”) that allows
you to take all the buses that you want in two hours for a slightly higher
ticket ( UY$44, USD 1.39)
Scan to download "Calcula Taxi"
I really don’t recommend taxis; they have a horrible screen that
make going the back seat very uncomfortable and insecure. Some drivers can be
very rude and dishonest. You have to be aware that taxis are hard to get,
though not impossible, from 12 pm to 6 am. If after all this you still want to
get one there’s an app that’s going to be very useful, it’s called “Calcula
Taxi” and you can download it for Android using the QR code above this
paragraph. This app not only gives you the best route to your
destination but also calculates the estimated rate you are going to pay.
For
asking a taxi the most advisable app is easy taxi (get it on google play, download on the app store)
Based on my personal experience I can
recommend you Uber over taxis, it’s
safer, more comfortable and a bit cheaper. (I won’t add a link here because I
guess you already have the app)
Montevideo counts with a touristic bus that makes nine stops (click here to see route).
Rates are UY$572 (USD 18.12) for a 24 hours ticket and UY$880 (USD 27.88) for 48 hours ticket.
National transportation:
If
you want to go to the cities of Punta Del Este, Piriapolis, Maldonado, La Barra
or Pueblo Garzon in the Department of Maldonado there are two bus companies
that cover the route: COPSA and COT. I highly recommend COT, you can buy you tickets online here or book them by skype trough the user “cotreservas”. They also go to Colonia,
Rocha, La Paloma and Chuy. These buses depart from Tres Cruces terminal which
is also a shopping (Tres Cruces website)
Trips of less than 50 kilometres, short
distance buses
Buses
that cover distances of less than 50 kilometres to destinations such as the
Airport, Atlantida, Canelones, San Jose, etc. are known as “inters”.
“Inters”
depart from the bus station of Galicia y Rio Branco (City Center, be careful in
the night). If your destination is the airport or Atlantida you can also catch
the “inters” in Av. Italia, the bus stops are duly signalized and are different
from the local bus stops.
You
can find the frequencies of all “inters” in the app “BUS UY” (get it on google play, it also has the frequency of the national buses)
“Inters” charge according destination, the
cheapest ticket is UY$44 (USD 1.39).
New train station, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Trains in Uruguay have suffered from a chronic sloth and lack of inversion from the government during the last 40 years. A clear symbol of this situation is the state of the once beautiful building of the former central train station of Montevideo now abandoned and in a regrettable condition.
Trains in Uruguay have suffered from a chronic sloth and lack of inversion from the government during the last 40 years. A clear symbol of this situation is the state of the once beautiful building of the former central train station of Montevideo now abandoned and in a regrettable condition.
