Bus transportation other then San Juan/Metro

I so wish they had a system in place...it is odd, I think, too.

than...than.

There are public vehicles with set routes called "Carro Publico" or Publico. They travel from town to town so fairly short hauls. They have designated routes, ending in the center of towns, typically you wait along the route and they will see you and stop to pick you up. These public cars are vans, holding 8 to 12 people, don't expect a working AC, be ready to sweat. Since I am from the east side of the island I will give you some samples from there.

In the center by the plaza in Junco you will find a public that travels from Juncos to Las Piedras, others to Humacao, others to Naguabo. they are starting at the Plaza usually.

Metro areas have big busses like you see in US metro areas. Also there is a train in the metro area but I never used it or know the route as it was build after I left.

You pay cash for the Publico, not sure what the fares are now day but likely 5 or so bucks.

Check with the locals as to where the publics route are, the destination is usually posted in a sign on the windshield. If you are going away, you may need to use two or more publicos to get to your destination since they only travel short hauls.

There is always tax. Also a neighbor may give you a ride if they are free and you pay the gas.

One more item .... this will probably turn you off, Kids sometimes are crying in the public car, also they sometimes get sick, so you need patience and a strong stomach.

This link may be helpful, not sure how complete it is, it is probably not complete, but likely they can give you other phone numbers. Hope your Spanish is up to par, not sure if they speak English.

Some contact info: http://www.mydestination.com/puertorico … ublic-cars

About public cars: http://www.legendsofpr.com/publiccars.htm

More: http://gopuertorico.about.com/od/therus … blicos.htm

I have not used a public in years, but like the price quoted of 20 bucks is for some that do much longer hauls, obviously a rental car or your own car is a lot more convinient.

Thanks for the links, Rey

What towns are you speaking of?  Like Ray said  some town has little town transportation and the Times are very unreliable .Also some larger bus companies will stop on other side of the island and also do pick up and drop off to San Juan.    Not much in transportation in pr. Definitely something they should consider .Not sure how cost effectively it would be when most people own cars or a relative or frieinds has cars

SRD, really just in general, like Rincon or area to Ponce for example.

Did you notice the 3 links I posted for you dgdlaw?
It has contact info, they can probably guide you to other companies that may not be listed.

Hello I don't know anything that goes to pounce .Howdy i do a lot of weekly trips .We get a group of people together and do trips .Some people have cars .Others don't. Its sometimes people that know each other and sometimes new people .Its a great way to network .  Also if you know in advance that you need to be somewhere that makes things easiest. If you have a car and don't feel comfortable explore parts of the island. I can help you with at least 3/4 of the island . I have a friend in Rincon that's from ponce . He would be happy to give a tour. He has no car. Just provide him with some beer and let him spend a little time at the salvation army to look for treasure .Lol .  Let me know.   When your here.  We can hook you up .No issues

I will for sure, that's really cool. Saves a lot of time and misconceptions.

In Rincon there are bus stop shelters. One day I realized that the same guys are always sitting there drinking beer. And there is a bus depot in town that is empty. They must have had a bus transportation system in the works at one time and now ..... nada.

As far as publicos are concerned, they are hard to come by. Here in Quebradilla, before we had a car, we used to look for some and finally after speaking to some people that were in the Publico stand near the municipal office, we got the number of one person. We used Luis several times and he was reasonable going from the house to the supermaket about $7.00 and to and from Aguadilla Airport which was more.

Then he had problems with his car and we were in a pinch when we were at the supermaket after doing a "compra" and we asked several people and this one man,{thank God for him} said that he would bring us home, which isn't far but with the groceries seems like 500 miles. Anyway he said give me $4.00 so we did and got his number and never used Luis again.  We see him all the time at the supermarket and he says that he goes there to get out of the house and pass time.

Going from Mayaguez to San Juan, there is "La Sultana", which is a van that goes in the morning and afternoon. My hubby had to take it to the San Juan Vet hospital for an appt. He waited by Mcdonald's here on Carr. 2 and he was picked up about 7:30am and they took him directly to the hospital and picked him up there.

It was $20.00 r/t which isn't bad considering and you give the guy a tip. The disadvantage is that if you have an early appt. you can't use them and also if you have an appt. at around 10am, you have to wait all day to pick up for the return trip.

Other than that I don't know of any other carro publico in the area. I heard that they really were done away with since most people have cars now.  It's a shame for the people who don't drive.

Tonie

Thank you for the information, tonie~