Pesero
This article needs to be updated.(December 2021) |
A pesero, combi, micro or microbús is a form of public transport, most commonly seen in
History
First seen in the 1970s as the so-called taxi colectivo (share taxi or collective cab), peseros were originally big cars with fixed routes which would pick passengers at any point through their route, and drop them off also at any point. Passenger capacities were limited to those of a large car (usually up to six people plus a driver).
Being both cheaper than a proper taxi and able to cover routes not feasible for larger buses or other forms of public transport, by the 1980s, pesero owners started using
As of 2007 a fleet of approximately 28,000 peseros carry an important part of Mexico City's public transport passengers, surpassing by far the capacity of the
Organization
Pesero drivers do not receive a fixed salary but are required to meet a daily quota prescribed by the owner of the vehicle. The driver is then allowed to keep the rest of the fares of the day. This fosters fierce competition among drivers, as every passenger is seen as valuable merchandise towards meeting the quota and thus increasing the driver's personal profit. As a result, often, two or three battered down peseros race furiously against one another with complete disregard for the passengers they carry or for other vehicles. Accidents, often deadly, ensue and are fairly common. However, the lack of any real alternative keeps them in high demand throughout the city.
Peseros travel fixed routes, being able to pick up or drop off passengers anywhere through the route (a major source of traffic problems and annoyance for the sudden and unexpected stops). The fees are according to distance traveled: from
Typically, less than $5.00 MXN routes begin in a small metro station that serves only one line, but the number rapidly increases depending on the number of metro lines going through a station. The terminal station of a metro line usually functions as a transport hub and may be served by tens of different pesero routes. In addition, every major avenue in the city is served by at least one pesero route.
The lack of organization of the pesero network, there is no comprehensive map of routes available to the general public. Nevertheless, routes each have a route number in order to distinguish them from each other in
See also
- Dollar van
- Dolmuş
- Jeepney
- Marshrutka
- Mexico City Metro
- Mexico City Metrobús
- Nanny van
- Public light bus Hong Kong
- Share taxi – around the world
- Songthaew
- Red de Transporte de Pasajeros
- Tren Suburbano
References
- ^ CDMX, Secretaría de Turismo de. "Microbús · Cómo moverse". cdmxtravel.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- ^ SETRAVI - official statistics on ground transport in Mexico City - Spanish Archived 2009-08-15 at the Wayback Machine