Experienced my first sito accident last weekend, dumb-ass taxi driver rear ended a van in the middle of an intersection and then we were almost broad sided by a bus, what the hell. I hate riding with those sito loco drivers, which bus do you take from the border to the Zona and at what hours do they operate?

I take the blue and white busses from la linea to centro for $4.50, they run as they please, but you rarely wait longer than 5 minutes. The ride is often fun, if you're open minded. The locals will often squeeze twice as many passengers into the bus and you can stand next to a foul smelling singer with a voice which may dead people throw up. The busses back to la linea, leave 2nd Street on the northside btw Const and Rev. again $4.50, but only run at higher frequency until 9pm. (prices in pesos)
BTW: from zona to linea NEVER pay more than $5 and DO NOT tip a taxi driver in TJ. The locals never do that anyway.

Salsa Boy,

You're taking the WRONG taxis.

Go with the taxis in front of CC. I've riden with many of these guys and have only found one to be even slightly crazy in his driving. (out of 22 cabs, that's pretty good)

If you're still in doubt, ask for Junior. In addition to being a good driver, he's also a good guy who knows his way around TJ, so traffic is never an issue. He also speaks perfecto ingles, as he grew up in SD.


StrikeEagle

I agree, there is a difference in Taxidrivers depending on where they stand: The ones in front of Adelitas often want $7 and even hustle for tips, the ones in front of LC are my favorites. I've always paid only $5 and the drivers are reasonable. The ones in front of CC are like that, too. So my advice: avoid the adelitas driver, they prey on drunks stumbling out of AB, and drive like madmen.

I have never had a problem with AB cabbies during the day. I've gotten to know some of them well, we shoot the shit, and I've NEVER been charged more than $5. I must be going too much because they, and the AB doorman, greet me by name. Now they just laugh when they see me. "Ah, amigo, more pooosey for you today?!"

I think they are better than the night time CC group as far as not trying to rip you off. At night, I do prefer the cabbies in front of the CC.

Buses & Taxis

Mexico is well-served by buses & taxis due to the fact that most of the populace can't afford cars. Tijuana is no exception. There are several public transit hubs in the greater Tijuana area. Some of these are: La linea (the border), Centro (spread all over the downtown area), Otay (Blvd. De las Belles Artes), 5 y 10 (The vicinity near Blvd Diaz Ordaz y Calzada Lazaro Cardenas), Centro Camionera (The main regional bus station, not a hub for local transportation), The old central bus station at 1st & Madero (Also not local), etc.

Buses: Most local buses charge 4 ½ pesos
The blue & white you pay when boarding. Some other buses, you pay when leaving - go figure.

Taxis de Ruta: Although taxi fares are somewhat lower in Tijuana than in San Diego, this is for the "Taxis Especial" (negotiable fares - like U$ 5.00 to Adelitas). Most residents use the cheaper taxis that run regular routes and cost much less. These taxis are known as: "Taxis de Ruta", "Taxis regular", etc. Of course, if they see a gringo coming, they can flip over their sign and become a "Taxi especial" in a flash. They are often crowded: 3 in the front (including the driver), 4 (and occasionally 5) in the back seat, and, if a station wagon, 3 more in the rear-facing seat. They usually won't leave until they get a full load (or nearly). Fares start at 5 pesos (local) and range to about 12 pesos (Rosarito). Some cabs increase the fare during late night hours (as much as double). Long routes sometimes 5 pesos for short rides and more (or double) for long rides. Just the same, a heck of a lot cheaper than "Taxis especial". Children in your lap are often free

There are some aspects of these cabs that increase their versatility:

1.If you dont feel like bearing the discomfort of crowding, you can hop in front, lock the door, and say "Voy a pagar dos" or "Dos" (or in the back with your girlfriend and 27 bags of groceries and say "...cuatro"), etc.

2. When it's not real busy - when you have a lot to carry or at night when you have security concerns - you can sometimes negotiate a "diversion" of the route. This is where you live 3 or blocks off-route and you pay extra for to-your-door service (the other patrons just get to wait a minute).

They go everywhere !

The rub is where do you catch which one. I spotted a partial list in the 1996 Tijuana phonebook, and have since made observations of my own. As it is lengthly spreadsheet and it formats wierdly, e-mail me at srpauncho@hotmail.com with "TJ TAXI" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy of my list in Excel spreadsheet format. Also I would be happy to accept corrections/additions

Pauncho

Oh, yeh. At the Linea bus area, occasionally you'll see a cab passing (after coming in from another area while heading towards centro) going kinda' slow and barely tapping his horn. This is a taxi de ruta and costs 5 pesos. Now wait and cheap. Not frequently however. But I always look for them. The buses at the border OFTEN make you wait more than 5 minutes. The drivers are masters of the illusion of "I'm about to leave", gunning their engines and pulling up a bit. Get used to it, it's part of the culture of Tijuana.

Heard so much over the years about Zona Rio but finally had a chance to check it out. I'm surprised how nice this area looks. Must be the high(er)-class area of TJ. It's basically reached by the main throughfare Blvd de Los Heroes (or something like that). Plaza Rio is stripmall-type shopping center with a nice multi-plex cinema. Across the Blvd de Los Heroes are banks such as Bancomer. The famous Sanborn is right in the middle of Plaza Rio.

Being the cheapie that I am I didn't want to pay $5 or so on tourist taxi. Instead I took the "collectivo" taxi which costed me a whopping 5 pesos one way. Hey why not? like the saying goes, "when in Rome do like Romans do" and I felt genuinely mexican sharing the taxi with 5 or so other people (LOL).

After some work I found out the station for this taxi by Constitucion and 2nd. The taxi is red but apparently not all red taxi goes to Plaza Rio. It's easier going back to the Zona. Apparently not just red but also tan and green taxis also go back there from zona Rio.

All in all a nice place to hang out if you have a novia.

What is with the sign in AB,,,"Be safe, use Yellow cabs only" Is it just a scam by the yellow cabs to get people to use them instead?

Yes

Fuck the yellow taxis take the other ones


Milktoast

They know everyone with any sense walks over to CC to cab it back home ...

Good tactic though, scaring the meek into thinking the other cabs are dangerous.

-Superman-

Alright, I've never or almost never hada problem anymore with taxis taking me back to the US since I've been specifically instructing them to take me to the 'linea Sentri'. However, I've occasionally had a big problem with these fuckers trying to take me some OTHER club. They usually say some stupid shit like Adelitas is closed or I will get a ticket if I take you to Adelitas today.

Often, if I just tell them I'm not interested, they'll leave me alone. However, I've had overly aggressive drivers be persistent about this on three occasions. The first was months ago and the prick took me instead to Lord Black. My friends and I stayed for about 10 minutes before walking about 6 blocks with some gregarious Mexicans we befriended outside the place to Adelitas (don't try this at home). Second, this past Sunday, some fucker tried to get me to go to another club because Adelitas was closed. I told him forget it and then I got out of the car. But right after this incident, I got a driver who tried the same shit for the third time with me. Stupidly, I stayed in the car- maybe because he said this new club was close to Adelitas and I was getting tired of dealing with these morons. I ended up being dropped off at some loser joint and walked about 2 blocks to Adelitas.

Now, I know when writing this the answer to my question. If a taxi driver tells you that Adeltias is closed, that he'll get a ticket for taking you there or any other bullshit- GET OUT OF THE CAR IF YOU CAN. Keep looking for another driver until you find one that does what he's supposedly paid to do.

Has anyone else had bad experiences getting to the Zona? What do you guys do to deal with the situation?

As a side note, I would consider myself 'accomplished' in Spanish. Not quite fluent but able to hold an extended conversation with a Spanish speaker 95% of the time. I don't think language played a huge role in my interaction with the drivers- although maybe if I was completely fluent I could have better told them to stop these games.

Yo digo: "No Adelitas? OK, Chicago Club."

hey annakin,

I had a cab driver last mon. (memorial day) tell me adelitas was closed and I thought he was serious. I usually tell them to drop me off there but almost never go there. I like to go to chavales or tropical. I thought to myself adelitas closed??? but when i got out at tropical i could see they were open and this puke was lyin. Every time I use a cabbie they always try and plug differnt places but I never heard that one before. I think from now on I'm gonna just walk and forget giving them any business.

jbr,
Do you really think it's safe walking? To each his own, but I would never try walking TJ at night unless I was in a group of at least 3 people.

I went to TJ this past Friday without a problem with the transportation. If I ever get another hassle from the drivers when I enter TJ, I will likely just try the Taxi Libre stand for a ride. As you're coming into TJ from the US, it is across the street and to the right of the Yellow Cab stand. It lines a circular thoroughfare. The only thing is that it is not especially brightly lit at night.

hey annakin,

Walking isnt so bad. I've done it several times and as long as you stay on the main streets you won't have any problems. In the 4 or 5 yrs I've been going down I had one close call and that was from a drunk gringo. Now i'm not saying ill never take a cab again but I hate it when these scumbags think they can get over on us. Every time i go down there i have some moron trying to play me. Little do they know i used to go down every wkend for like a yr and a half. Oh well be safe.

I got choke holded at 6:45 (still daylight) about 100 yds from the arch in Ratero Alley.

It costs only $2 with tip to take the Taxi Libre.

I don't walk from the border anymore.