GojiMet86 Posted September 24, 2021 Share #1 Posted September 24, 2021 I spent some time in Guatemala this summer; it was really interesting to see how city transit has changed. Last time I visited, the old red buses dominated the city. Transurbano, which was touted as a replacement, turned out to be a front for funneling money from the government into the hands of the associations that run the red buses. Money that was supposed to be used for improving the bus system was used for equipment that was never used, and whatever was left was used for undetermined reasons. It was supposed to buy 3150 new buses, but only 450 were only bought. It was a pretty big scandal, and a former president of the country was arrested. Skip forward to this year. What is left of Transurbano has been buying used buses, mostly from the United States but others from Brazil and even some Chinese buses. It has a ton of Neoplans, Orions, Blue Birds, ElDorados, Gilligs, New Flyers (especially from Houston METRO), and more. COVID brought everything to a standstill, and the red buses stopped running in March 2020. The City of Mixco is to Guatemala City what 1890s Brooklyn was to 1890s Manhattan. The transition from one to the other is seamless. Over the last 3-4 years, it has been taking over the red bus routes little by little with a system called Rutas Express (the blue and green buses). Transmetro, the City's own BRT system, has been expanding with a couple of new lines as well, and they have bi-articulated buses now. There are two other new systems that serve smaller satellite cities/towns, but I never saw them. I do know one of them, TransMIO (which serves a place called Villa Nueva), has a lot of D40LFs. I'll start off with American transit buses, because that is what I think most fans will find interesting. I really loved seeing Gillig Phantoms and D40LFs running around, living their second lives. Transurbano is oriented in a North-South axis, but I rarely spent time there, so unfortunately I couldn't see Transurbano a lot. It was a shame, because they run the American stuff. Whenever I passed through the center, I really hoped some good stuff would pop up. Rutas Mixco has a combination of refurbished red buses with used Brazilian buses, but virtually no American transit buses (Blue Birds on the other hand are very plentiful). Almost all my photos were taken within cars. IMG_1432 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3475 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2792 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1437 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2667 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2628 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2058 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2040 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2017 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2029 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1477 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1562 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1563 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1565 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1729 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1721 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1990 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2237 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2641 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2669 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2679 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2711 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2815 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2821 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2836 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3021 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3024 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3032 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3327 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3352 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3419 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3420 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3471 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3479 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3499 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1722 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1071 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1423 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1152 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1177 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1290 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1292 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1302 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1303 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1306 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1318 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1612 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1683 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2121 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2244 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2489 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2492 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2595 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_2601 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3343 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3037 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3455 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_3476 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1758 by GojiMet86, on Flickr IMG_1518 by GojiMet86, on Flickr 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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