Barbados Buses

[wivenswold]

Currently enjoying a much needed break in Barbados. Disappointed to note that I've not seen any ex-pat buses.

The government run an impressive network which runs from 6am to midnight. All rural parts are covered with a timetabled service. There's a flat fare of 2 BDS (66p) per bus you travel on. The vehicles are high-floor twin door Marco Polos which don't cope on the roads here.

Then there are the Reggae buses, privately owned yellow bread vans which fly around the lanes blasting out local radio. I love em. Each has a conductor (of sorts) and then often stop to see if you need a lift.

Overall, a beautiful island with very friendly people. It doesn't have to be an expensive trip either if you "go native". Beer is usually about 60p a bottle and the local cuisine is sublime. Highly recommend it. I'm thinking seriously of getting the mortgage paid off and moving over here to become a bus driver.

[YY13VKP]

Apr 21, 2016 21:45:10 GMT wivenswold said:

Currently enjoying a much needed break in Barbados. Disappointed to note that I've not seen any ex-pat buses.

The government run an impressive network which runs from 6am to midnight. All rural parts are covered with a timetabled service. There's a flat fare of 2 BDS (66p) per bus you travel on. The vehicles are high-floor twin door Marco Polos which don't cope on the roads here.

Then there are the Reggae buses, privately owned yellow bread vans which fly around the lanes blasting out local radio. I love em. Each has a conductor (of sorts) and then often stop to see if you need a lift.

Overall, a beautiful island with very friendly people. It doesn't have to be an expensive trip either if you "go native". Beer is usually about 60p a bottle and the local cuisine is sublime. Highly recommend it. I'm thinking seriously of getting the mortgage paid off and moving over here to become a bus driver.

I went to Barbados in 2012, and I remember seeing those Marcopolo buses around. I didnt use a proper bus,but i went on the reggae buses, but I didnt like them because it was sweltering hot inside the Toyota Hiaces they supplied and the vehicles themselves were in a poor condition. Their other name is a "route taxi" I did however like listening to the reggae music on the bus.

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2016 21:45:10 GMT wivenswold said:

Currently enjoying a much needed break in Barbados. Disappointed to note that I've not seen any ex-pat buses.

The government run an impressive network which runs from 6am to midnight. All rural parts are covered with a timetabled service. There's a flat fare of 2 BDS (66p) per bus you travel on. The vehicles are high-floor twin door Marco Polos which don't cope on the roads here.

Then there are the Reggae buses, privately owned yellow bread vans which fly around the lanes blasting out local radio. I love em. Each has a conductor (of sorts) and then often stop to see if you need a lift.

Overall, a beautiful island with very friendly people. It doesn't have to be an expensive trip either if you "go native". Beer is usually about 60p a bottle and the local cuisine is sublime. Highly recommend it. I'm thinking seriously of getting the mortgage paid off and moving over here to become a bus driver.

Sounds really good you make me jealous now and I would like to go here. I assume the Reggae Bus are part of local culture which sounds quite good. Makes me want to party. If you're still there, can you take some pictures if you can.

You saying music on the buses reminds of a holiday I did in England to Skegness. There's are bus system round there called the Seasiders (No.3 bus) running from Skegness Station up the coast by all the holiday parks to Butlins and Fantasy Island (on onwards to Ingoldmells). All the buses have different names such as Shelly, Hattie, Rocky, Pierre, Sandy and play really loud music onboard. A £4.50 all day bus pass for this service is worth it. Stagecoach would never run that sort of bus service round here!

[thewintersoldier]

I go once a year. Great island. Transport system is very good. Especially the mini van buses. It's worth getting to know the conductors and drivers as they will look out for you and always slow down. They know most of the tourist destinations aswell. The government buses are not so helpful but are more reliable and stick to timetables.
Luckily the transport hub is easy to use. In Bridgetown you have multiple bus stations and all bus services on each station generally go in one direction. The drivers are not afraid to thrash the buses aswell. I would recommend a trip to Martins Bay on a government bus, the route it takes is very scenic up and down cliffs.

[6HP502C]

Nice thread . I'm part Bajan, but haven't visited since 2007 when the fare was BD 1.50. I would travel on the Josey Hill/Connell Town services to get to and from town. Those Marcopolo buses are rugged machines. For some reason, I recall having a vision of importing some S plate LDPs (completely random!) and running buses - but I suspect they'd flake out in the hot conditions. Somehow I'm not convinced a Dart could stand up to the terrain and the salty sea air would likely rapidly corrode bodywork that isn't specially designed to withstand it.

The reggae buses - do they still have the spoilers, the blingy rims and the wonderfully trumpeting horns? Here's a picture of one - 1.bp.blogspot.com/-auVSlEqO358/Vix07aF5KQI/AAAAAAAAGEM/w4NbGEohN3g/s1600/barbadosreggaebus3.jpg . Some of them had really wicked decals - my favourite was the one with the Jamaican flag themed stickers. They had character for sure - and filthy muck coming out of their exhausts as standard!

I wasn't particularly keen on the ZRs - the minibuses that whizz around. Too small and cramped for my liking, wouldn't fancy my chances of survival in the likely event one crashed!

The driving standards were an issue at the time. Going by blogs and Trip Advisor, they still are. The government run buses are the safest, by virtue of the fact that they can't reach warp speed too quickly. By all accounts, the buses are a money pit, with much revenue being abstracted by the reggae buses. Many schemes have been undertaken over the last 10 years, combining, chopping and changing the service to make more efficient use of capacity. The yellow buses and ZR vans are white knuckle as standard - the faster they go, the more fares they can collect. I found it fun as a carefree 16 year old, but looking back, it was really unsafe. I think I prefer the thrilling, but safe rides available in London!

Barbados is an absolutely beautiful place - I really want to go back now. Might be time for me to burn some of those air miles I've been stacking!

[thewintersoldier]

One of the reggae buses had the most epic batman logo on the back. The picture you have has Ghost rider. I believe they can customise the buses with decal and of course music.

They always drove with the passenger doors open to let some sort of cool air in. at terminus stations especially in Bridgetown people would sell you ice cones while you waited for the bus to depart, passing them down the bus or through the window. Those things pulling off used to make a mighty roar and the smoke from the exhaust batman could disappear in, but it's a good experience and very customer friendly.

[M1104]

Apr 26, 2016 9:56:01 GMT thewintersoldier said:

One of the reggae buses had the most epic batman logo on the back. The picture you have has Ghost rider. I believe they can customise the buses with decal and of course music.

They always drove with the passenger doors open to let some sort of cool air in. at terminus stations especially in Bridgetown people would sell you ice cones while you waited for the bus to depart, passing them down the bus or through the window. Those things pulling off used to make a mighty roar and the smoke from the exhaust batman could disappear in, but it's a good experience and very customer friendly.

Ice cones may be a good idea to do here before getting on a London Boris bus.