CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSmall buses known as \u201cbusetas<\/strong>\u201d are all over Colombia\u2019s major cities and can be found connecting towns and villages<\/strong>, usually on the shorter routes. They can be all sorts of shapes and sizes with a capacity of around 10 to 20 people<\/strong>, although this can be pushed to the limit with many standing.<\/p>\nIn big cities, they will usually have larger buses serving the main roads while busetas<\/em> head up and down the hills. They can be in a uniform design as part of the city\u2019s formal network or they can be unique, colorfully painted and someone patched together by the private owners.<\/p>\nIn the city, there will be a dedicated route with bus stops<\/strong>, although the bus will stop anywhere along the way. You can wave the bus as it is passing to get on and you can press the button (if there is one) or shout if you want to get off.<\/p>\nThe drivers of these buses are remarkable multitaskers. They drive at top speed while checking for people waving to get on, they manage the doors, they collect the money, calculate and return the change all while talking to passengers. You can pay as you enter the bus, you can get on, sit down and then get up to pay or you can pay as you get off. There is a fair amount of trust involved, although the driver will be trying to keep track.<\/p>\n
Cash only on busetas<\/em><\/strong>, unless it is an official city bus included in the transport network. For example, there are buses in and around Medellin where you can pay with your Civica travel card.<\/p>\nFor buses traveling between towns, cities and villages you can buy tickets at the bus terminal and they will only sell the number of tickets in accordance with seats. Despite this, sometimes the driver will pick up extra passengers just after leaving the terminal or pick up and drop off along the route to the official destinations.<\/p>\n