TRANSPORT - Taking a bus in São Paulo

Buses in São Paulo are new, large, and good in general, but of course crowded in rush hours. But taking the correct bus in São Paulo is for those in the know. Few bus stops display a list of the buses that stop there, and those that do will only list the bus numbers and final destinations, giving no clue whatsoever to their itineraries… You may get some help checking the site of the local bus administration, http://www.sptrans.com.br/, but this is only in Portuguese.  Every time I suggest some place here, I’ll try and indicate some useful buses, where to take them and where to get off.

In any case, if you know which bus to take, these are the basics: Board the bus through the front door and get off using the back door. But watch out because most buses have doors on both sides, since the city has many ‘bus corridors’ in which the buses run on the left side of the streets. So you might be waiting to get off from one door and ‘miss’ your bus stop because the bus opens the other door (which is not directly opposite). This would happen to locals also.

Sao Paulo has no tourist fares or day passes, like so many large cities around the world. The fare for each trip is R$3,00. The best you can do is get yourself a card called “Bilhete Unico”, which will allow you to make some trips on the same fare (see complete post here).

All the buses in Sao Paulo have turnstiles and a guy that sits almost atop of them. Though most people now use the “Bilhete Unico” cards, you may still pay cash, so this guy will receive your money. (He is called a “cobrador”). Don’t you ever try to change more than R$10,00 to pay for a bus ride. They will not have (or not want to give) change for you.