Growing up in the suburbs, I’ve only ever gotten around to places by car or school bus. Once I got to college, I started walking more and using public buses to get to where I needed to go. I had the idea that these were the most common methods to get around in most places around the world, but I was in for quite a surprise when I found out how people in different parts of Costa Rica get from place to place.
I will try to paint a picture to showcase the many different ways I, and many other people, get around in Costa Rica. Let’s start in San Joaquín de Flores, where I am currently living. Every morning I leave my house and start the short walk to school. There is very little traffic in the residential area, or area where the houses in the neighborhood are. On my walk, I pass by mothers walking their children to daycare and high school students moving briskly with their headphones in their ears. About a block down from the school, I wait at the crosswalk to get across one of the busier streets in the neighborhood. Once I see the little pedestrian signal across the street change, I continue onward to school.
Next up are the bustling streets of San José. To get there, I take a public bus from the nearby stop in my neighborhood. After I pay my fare, I work my way through the bus to find an empty seat.
