The “Green Bus” Routes Through Cumbayá

More documenting of everyday life …

Since I do not drive in Ecuador and I do not want to drive here, I must take public transportation.

So, here is yet another post about the Green Busses that run through Cumbayá.

I travel from Cumbayá to the bus station Rio Coca.
From Rio Coca I usually catch another bus to a different part of Quito.
(Click to enlarge)

There are five towns farther away from Quito

Here is a list and the cost to ride from Rio Coca to each of the towns:

• Tumbaco - $0.35 - This town seems to have the most busses running and from the map it appears to be the biggest town just east of Quito.
• Pifo - $0.55
• Puembo - $0.55
• Yaruquí - $0.70
• El Quinche - $0.95 - I feel sorry for the people who have to ride all the way to El Quinche, it has to be a long, bumpy ride.

Each town has a bus line servicing that town

I presume that there are a large number of townspeople that work in Quito every day and so they need daily bus service.

Since all these buses go through Cumbayá on their way to Quito (they all go to Estación Rio Coca) I can take any one of them.  The cost is $0.25.

All these busses at the same time in Cumbayá
This is a common sight

Which bus is which?

To make it easy to recognize which bus is which, each bus has the name of the town painted on the front of the bus in large print.

I know you are just dying see a picture of all five different busses, so here they are:

Tumbaco

Pifo

Puembo

Yaruquí

El Quinche

I've ridden at least one of each ...

And they are all about the same – a bumpy ride, well worn seats, some kind of popular Ecuadorian music being played, hot when it’s sunny, crowded after work, etc.

How long is the ride?  Well that depends.

When traffic is flowing, it takes me about 20 minutes to get from Rio Coca to Cumbayá, which is almost all downhill.  It takes slightly more time going the other way because it is a steep climb from Cumbayá (from 7,200 feet) to Quito (9,300 feet).

When traffic is heavy, it can take as much as 45 minutes from Rio Coca to Cumbayá.

Other posts mentioning the "Green Bus":

• All Hollywood stunt drivers are from Ecuador
• Two Trips to Quito Already