What's on the Chicken Bus? ME!

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What’s on the Chicken Bus? ME!

So your probably thinking….What’s on a Chicken Bus?….and why I am riding it? The name “Chicken Bus” is very misleading. You would think these are busses taking chickens to the Chicken factory. But in reality, these busses are taking us to work!

Chicken busses are renovated school busses that have been painted red and have many eccentric designs, patterns, paintings, and advertisements on them. They zip through the busy streets of Guatemala City at extremely dangerous speeds, and on your first ride, you’ll find yourself praying to God….”Please let me make it to work safely.”

The reason they’re called Chicken buses is because we’re all packed together stumbling all over each other like chickens heading the Chicken factory. Once the seats are filled, we then stand up in the aisles holding on to the above railings from the ceiling of the bus. There are three rails which make for three standing rows in the aisle. Can you remember how narrow the bus aisles were when you were back in high school? Now imagine three rows of people standing in this narrow aisle. Now you’ve got yourself a chicken bus.

For a small town boy like myself, riding on a Chicken bus can be pretty exciting. When the bus is completely full, those who continue to enter the bus will find themselves holding onto literally nothing, as they press their hands, backs, feet, or butts up against the front window of the bus. People are also standing in the stairwell and others hanging out the open doors grasping onto the corners of the doorway for support.

Often in the afternoons when the buses are less crowded, people will jump on trying to sell anything from candy, stickers, pens….anything they feel someone would want to buy. Some people will even play their guitars or simply perform as clowns or magicians, hoping to receive a tip and then move on to the next bus.

There are many dangers facing the riders on a Chicken Bus:

1)The bus drivers zips through the city at incredibly high speeds.
2)The people standing in the aisles can be seriously hurt when the bus comes to sudden stop (a tourist came slamming right into me when the bus came to a sudden stop, she took her hands off of the railing to look for something in her backpack)
3)Those standing up by pressing against the front window are at greatest danger of being hurt during sudden stops and those standing in the stairwell or hanging out of the doors could fall out of the bus if they don’t hold on tight!
4)Gang activity on the buses - (Chicken busses are robbed everyday by gang members and very seldom they target the passengers, recently they’ve only been targeting the bus drivers. The bus drivers are required to pay a war tax of Q100 for every time, he drives through gang territory. Once in this territory, a gang member will enter the bus to receive his war tax and then he leaves in a matter of seconds. If the driver refuses to pay this money or doesn’t have it, he will be killed on the spot. If a bus drives through 5 different gang territories 5 times a day, he is required to pay at least Q2,500 ($344 US) everyday to gang members just to keep his life!

My co-worker was the first person to give me valuable information concerning Chicken buses in Guatemala City.
I asked him, “What are people suppose to do if the bus driver gets shot?”
He said, “You'd better run off the bus like a freed chicken!”

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