They have a more communal feel than the buses do. The passengers on a combi will often say goodbye to everyone as they disembark.
The roads here get congested during rush hour, just as in any big city, but the buses and combis really help get lots of people to their destinations without clogging up the streets.
When I first started taking buses in Mexico, I was excited to be able to work during my morning commute. I lived in Chicago for a summer and had experience taking the train to work, so I was looking forward to being able to read or catch up on emails while someone else did the driving for me. However, the novelty wore off pretty quickly once I realized just how much time I would be spending traveling on a daily basis.
The first step of taking the bus is figuring out where to stand to hail one and which bus to get on. Since each bus route here is technically private, there is no central organizational system to find out which bus to get on and where it will take you. I got on the wrong bus many times in my first few weeks here. Once I eventually figured out where to stand and which bus to take, I still had no way of knowing when the bus would come. Sometimes three or four buses will pass by in 30 seconds. At other times, I have had to wait 20 minutes for a single one to drive by. It can be super frustrating! I am used to just getting in my car and driving to my destination, so it was quite an adjustment for me to realize that I can't rely just on myself to get from Point A to Point B anymore.
