I thought the buses in Mexico were kind of cool. Many of them were painted in psychedelic pinks and purples and had neon lights or weird inscriptions near the drivers seat (such as “psicosis”). Most of them had Jesus images above the drivers seat (I would too if I were driving in Mexico traffic). The drivers tended to play loud dance music. Several buses had painted elaborate painted murals or decorations.
To some extent, this is to put on a show for the turistas (Mexican and international). But what extent does the driver have say in the decorations (seemingly quite a lot)? When did the buses become Electric Kool-Aid and how far has this caught on elsewhere?
I’ve heard that in the Phillipines the taxis are all rather garishly decorated, and the ones I’ve seen certainly live up to that description. As to why, I think it has to do with the lack of their Puritan upbringing. Since the Puritans thought that anything flashy was being prideful, and thus an offense to God, we’ve inherited rather subdued tastes.
Gerard’s Jeepney Collection
A little slow loading, but worth it (if you like looking at pictures of weird, colourful, Philippino transportation, that is).
It’s also a way of providing “character” to the bus, which helps attract repeat business. And to give entertainment value to the ride, where the population may not have too much cash to spend on entertainments and the worldview may be that just because something serves a utilitarian purpose is no reason for it to be boring.
There is also another consideration in some countries – I learned this in a trip to Guatemala back in late 2000: in the rural areas, the vivid colors/patterns helped ID the bus company and route for populations with high illiteracy rates.
Also, at least in Mexico/Guatemala there is an ancestral cultural element. Meso-American civilizations were into vivid, colorful, loud, even shocking and garish visual display – which were carried forward into such things as tricking up motor vehicles.
When i read the title of this thread all I could see was an image of three freaks being chaced by an oversized bus. Readers of the Freak Brothers will know of the image I speak.
FWIW As a user of pubilc transportation I’d love to see this on the local TARTA buses. I love “Entertainment at affordable prices” aka ‘Cheep Thrills’. Just the folks who get on the bus can be downright entertaining in thier own right.
A few of them are painted, but they mostly deal with local spots (Animals for the Zoo) or really bad advertising (An all yellow bus for Sun Oil Co.)
It has been years, but the handpainted buses seemed like they were all local runs and were owned by mom-and-pop businesses. The second and third class buses that ran from city to city were all owned by the biggies (Tres Estrella de Oro and the like.) They usually had open exhausts, but the paint jobs weren’t much to look at.
On the other hand, the bus from Tepic to San Blas was a deep blue. Does that count?
When my girlfriend went to Nicaragua for a week to volunteer last year they rode a few busses and saw many others. Most were origionally from schools. Sadly of the ones she saw a good number actually still had the name from the school district I live in still painted on the side (we both go to a school made up of many school districts). When the busses were not fit for inspection here they would sell them to a company cheap that would send them down there. They were beyond dangerous and by no means roadworthy.