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Public Transit in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina, has a developed public transit network with an underground rapid transit system and many city buses. Expats looking to move to this city will not need a car to get around.

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Subway

The Subway of Buenos Aires is called the Subte. This is the oldest subway system in the continent of South America, having opened in 1913, and passengers can still ride some of the original wooden cars on Line A. The Subte is also currently the only underground transit system in Argentina, and covers the center and many of the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Many of the stations are beautifully decorated and themed around Argentinian culture and history.

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In terms of fare, people can buy pre-paid cards from machines or from ticket booths. They are not expensive, and in most cases cheaper than taking the bus. Most lines start running at 5:00 AM and continue until 10:45 PM. On Sunday, the lines start running at 8:00 AM. Trains show up every 3-6 minutes.

The lines A, B, D and E start in Centro, and then run north and south. Line C goes along Avenue 9 de Julio, where you can connect to the other lines. Line H is the newest line, having opened in 2007. The Subte is not the most extensive metro system, as the entire network is 53 kilometers (32 miles) in length, and there are currently 74 stations.

Click here to look at a network map.

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Bus

There is a an extended network of city buses in Buenos Aires, with over 140 lines. They area called “colectivos” by locals. Fares for the rides depend on the length of the trip, and you should tell the driver where you are going so that they can charge you the right amount, or just pay the standardized fare. You must have coins to pay for your bus fare.

Most bus lines operate 24/7, but the night buses run less frequently. When you are waiting at a bus stop, the bus will not automatically stop for you, so you must flag it down. Buses can get fairly crowded and are not air conditioned.

Comments

8 thoughts on “Public Transit in Buenos Aires, Argentina

  1. the pollution that pours out of one bus cant be described. bus after rusting bus spewing enormous clouds of black smoke and the noise!!! oh my God, the noise. No inspections or govt. control apparently. Its madness and not necessary to live like this. very unpleasant city to live in. I like cities, I hate buenos aires. very dirty people or they would never chose to live like this. you have to see it to believe it.

  2. Mr. Darin Carruthers, your remark was quite uncalled for. I’ve been to a hundred of countries around the globe, and Buenos Aires is a far cleaner and less polluted place to live than many other “high-class” (and high-overrated) European cities. Let alone USA’s major destinations like L.A, NYC, San Francisco, etc, which are about the dirtiest and noisiest shitholes in the “civilized world”.

  3. Darin Carruthers you are simply an ignorant moron. There is not much else to say. Buenos Aires is one of the greatest cities in the world and has always been. Your comment is not only ignorant but totally baseless. Stay in your little box somewhere in the world, and keep your blinders on. People like you just take space in this world.

  4. @Darin Carruthers, it’s obvious you haven’t been there in Buenos Aires going by your unworldly comment. You’re just posting an ignorant comment for what reason I don’t know. I have visited Buenos Aires many times and it’s not the way you describe it. Sure it has air pollution just like any big modern city but saying the people are dirty is just plain insulting and stupid.

  5. Those buses contribute to less contamination because lots of people use them. If all those people had cars, not only the contamination will be crazy, but the city will collide.

    Aside from that i do agree that Buenos Aires is a very dirty city, you just have to walk 2 blocks away from touristic zones and you’ll see.

  6. I lived in Argentina for 8 years in Ushuaia, in the extreme south luckily but i have been to buenos aires in many occasions. Buenos Aires is a very overrated city on my opinion, overcrowded, dangerous(if you are unlucky enough) and very pushy and recently expensive. Scams and petty thieves abound. The subte (metro system) is hellish in summer. it is actually one of the hottest places(Unbearably hot) i have ever been, and i have travelled around the world….the city is not particularly dirty on my opinion. yes sometimes at night you can see a lot of rubbish piled up but then in the morning is usually gone. but the traffic is horrible, Crazy!
    Luckily we are in 2011 and it s not 2002-2003 where kidnappings were a huge problem. people from buenos aires(the locals) were escaping the city…but back then you could have a big quantity of meats and red wine for just 3 dollars…(dessert included…ehehe)

  7. oh please, those who posted earlier: stop crying & whining! don’t act as if there was nothing negative to say about buenos aires!

    i lived in buenos aires for a year and have to say that the buses are screaming loud and most of them don’t have any filters installed – hence blow out black clouds where ever they go. i shivered many times when a bus would pass by because of the noise. horrible and it really ruined living in this city for me. it’s so loud, i hated it.

    the subte is really nice to have, but beware when heavy rains occur. several lines are closed then because they were flooded! good luck in finding a taxi…that’s part of the reason why people are late a lot of times. it’s not only culture, it’s plain impossibility to be on time because of the chaotic traffic in the city.

    the streets as such are not really dirty, as one poster said earlier there are many people who make their living from collecting waste and selling it (recycling so to speak).

    when i had to go a second time to argentina i think i would go to córdoba. big enough, cheaper, less traffic, nice inner city.

  8. Besides the trash and busses…dog shit everywhere! What a shame to visit a beautiful city and constantly be looking down for a misplaced step into shit.

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