Is Public Transportation Safe?

[rdcooper]

From what I can tell, the crime rate in Argentina is lower than in the US. I would never take a city bus in any large city in the US, and haven't done so since the 1980s. Is public transportation generally safe in Buenos Aires? I'm not planning on living there, but I may have to stay there a couple of weeks until I get situated.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

The people from the U.S. worry me the most.

 

[AgeOfEmpires]

I don't know about the bus but the subway is x 100000 safer than the New York subway. I've taken the subway at least 3 times a day for years and years, every line and all times of night, never once felt unsafe from other passengers. There are some lines with a scary big gap between the platform and subway and someone did have their leg amputated a few months ago.

 

[rdcooper]

I don't know about the bus but the subway is x 100000 safer than the New York subway. I've taken the subway at least 3 times a day for years and years, every line and all times of night, never once felt unsafe from other passengers. There are some lines with a scary big gap between the platform and subway and someone did have their leg amputated a few months ago.

What does it cost?

 

[Stephano]

What does it cost?

https://buenosaires.gob.ar/subte/tarifas-pases-y-abonos/tarifas

 

[Silvie]

It is safe but just don’t display your cell phone or gold jewellery anywhere in public; it may be taken anywhere any time, even inside bus or riding a taxi while waiting for the green light

 

[darksider415]

Very safe. I've never had issues on the buses or the subte here, even when I lived in Microcentro and would be on the bus at 1 or 2 AM to get home

 

[Ries]

I am 70. I take the bus in Buenos Aires almost every day. Sometimes I ride 6 in one day, if I have errands far afield. I take the subway pretty often too, its more crowded and, I would say, more susceptible to pickpockets. But I have been taking both since 2007, and never had any incident of any kind myself.
I have taken buses at every hour, including coming back from concerts at 4 am, or with lots of luggage.
I have never seen drunks or the mentally ill making trouble on buses or subways in BA.
I see that pretty much every time I take public transport in the USA.
Once, there was a guy on the colectivo who was drunk, and began singing a tango song. He was pretty good, though, and the whole bus applauded when he finished.
I see people pay the fare of someone who doesnt have a Sube card probably once a week or so.
and I see people giving up seats for the elderly or children daily.
I have taken buses to many of the so-called "dangerous" suburbs in the Conurbano, over the years, always without incident.
Its possible, certainly, to have your cell phone snatched anywhere in BA, and it happens on buses- but the average bus almost always has more women than men riding, ranging in age from 10 to 90 years, and at any given time, I would say over half the people on any given bus are on their phones.

so, no, its not very dangerous.
And its really really cheap.
You do need a Sube card, though.

 

[Quilombo]

It's safe IMO, but it also greatly varies depending where/when you use it.

For example, subway is always safe except for pickpockets. Buses in CABA and Zona Norte are generally fine whenever, while buses in Zona Oeste and Zona Sur you have to keep your head up, and traveling in the early mornings/late at night the most dangerous thing is waiting for the bus itself as people are robbed daily (but if you're a foreigner living/visiting here, odds are you're not going to La Matanza).

 

[Ries]

I have taken buses to oddball places- there are railroad museums, for example, in both Remedios De Escalada and Avellenada.
But its absolutely true that unless you have relatives there, or like me, were visiting factories, you would not be in La Matanza, Villa Sodati, or most barrios outside the ring roads of the autopistas.