Confusing collectivo maps

[hankscott]

With the temporary closing of the D subte, I am taking the bus more often in Buenos Aires. One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the buses do not run along the same path that is indicated when I use Moovit, Google Maps, or the Transit app. For example, each of those shows the 111 bus will leave from the intersection of Bonpland and Soler and travel on Avenida Santa Fe to the corner of Avenida Coronel Diaz, in front of Alto Palermo. But one day, when I got on the 111 bus, it instead went down Paraguay and never got to Santa Fe. I had to take a long walk in hot weather to get to my destination. When attempting another ride today, the bus driver told me that the 111 doesn't go to Alto Palermo. Today I had a similar issue leaving on the 39c from the stop on Costa Rica at Plaza Unidad Latinoamericano to go to the intersection of Gorriti and Humbolt, where I wanted to get off. The maps show the bus traveling along Costa Rica before turning on Godoy Cruz and then Gorriti. But much of the trip actually was on Honduras, parallel to Costa Rico. Luckily, the bus eventually turned off Honduras onto Costa Rica, but still didn't follow the map. The blue dot on the attached map shows where the bus actually was, while the brown line shows the stated route.

Do the buses routinely ignore those mapped routes? Or are the apps that show the routes not accurate? In any case, how does one really know how to get somewhere on a collectivo?

 

[nikad]

They do not ignore their routes, sometimes streets are closed for whatever reason and they have to take different streets.

 

[lunar]

Do the buses routinely ignore those mapped routes? Or are the apps that show the routes not accurate?

Many buses with the same bus number have different branches that take different routes.

See, for example,

Recorrido de la Línea 39 en Buenos Aires

Buscás la línea de colectivos 39? Probá nuestro buscador de colectivos y eligí la mejor opción!

www.omnilineas.com.ar

Linea 39 Ramal 2 Chacarita por Plaza Italia and
Linea 39 Ramal 3 Chacarita por Plaza Serrano

It may not be immediately obvious, especially on foreign sites.

I used to take Colectivo Linea 5, and now it is called "Linea 8E Ex Linea 5". Another branch of the same Linea 8 operates a route between Ezeiza and Aeroparque.

 

[hankscott]

Thank you for explaining this. So I guess my question now is how do I really find the right bus? Is there a more accurate app?

 

[Macanudo]

You can try this site, but they still haven’t updated that linea 5 has been replaced by linea 8. Maybe you need to ask some people at your usual bus stops if they know how to get to where you want to go.

Mapa Interactivo de Buenos Aires - Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

El Mapa Interactivo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires es un servicio que le permite localizar direcciones geográficamente, visualizar información relevante de cada parcela de la ciudad incluyendo su fotografía de fachada, hallar el camino más corto para ir de un lugar a otro de la ciudad a pie o en...

mapa.buenosaires.gob.ar

 

[nikad]

Thank you for explaining this. So I guess my question now is how do I really find the right bus? Is there a more accurate app?

In my experience apps are so so. There used to be one by the city but has been discontinued. I generally check both apps but it is not always accurate.

 

[hankscott]

You can try this site, but they still haven’t updated that linea 5 has been replaced by linea 8. Maybe you need to ask some people at your usual bus stops if they know how to get to where you want to go.

Mapa Interactivo de Buenos Aires - Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

El Mapa Interactivo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires es un servicio que le permite localizar direcciones geográficamente, visualizar información relevante de cada parcela de la ciudad incluyendo su fotografía de fachada, hallar el camino más corto para ir de un lugar a otro de la ciudad a pie o en...

mapa.buenosaires.gob.ar

Thank you. This is more useful

 

[Aztangogirl]

Thank you for explaining this. So I guess my question now is how do I really find the right bus? Is there a more accurate app?

I prefer Como Llego

 

[Johnny]

Am I the only one who uses Omnilineas?

 

[Ries]

Am I the only one who uses Omnilineas?

Nope, I love it. And it allows you to check the routes of the different ramals. But I still find some routes are not updated for metrobus.