Public transport in Spanish: buses, metro, trains and tickets in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
At a bus stop, a traveller’s Spanish is tested in public. The word for bus is the easy part. The harder words are the card you tap, the counter you buy it at, and the sentence you say to get the driver to tell you when your stop comes. This page has the whole journey, from the ticket window to the door, with the version for Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina wherever the words differ.
What the vehicle is called
This is the first trap. Four countries, four everyday words for a city bus.
| You want to say | Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bus (city) | el camión, el micro, el pesero (small ones in Mexico City) | el autobús, el bus | el bus, la buseta (the small one) | el colectivo, el bondi (slang) |
| Bus (long distance) | el autobús | el autocar, el bus | el bus | el micro, el ómnibus |
| Underground | el metro | el metro | no metro yet in Bogotá | el subte |
| Commuter train | el tren suburbano | el Cercanías | Medellín has el metro | el tren |
| Tram, light rail | el tren ligero | el tranvía | el tranvía (Medellín), el metrocable (the cable cars) | el tranvía |
| Stop | la parada | la parada | el paradero | la parada |
| Station | la estación | la estación | la estación, el portal (the big TransMilenio ends) | la estación |
| Platform | el andén | el andén | la plataforma, el andén | el andén |
Micro means opposite things in the two countries where people use it. In Mexico a micro is a small city bus. In Argentina a micro is the long-distance coach.
Camión in Mexico is the city bus. In Spain, Colombia and Argentina un camión is a lorry.
Buying a ticket
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A ticket, please | Un boleto, por favor. (Mexico, Argentina) / Un billete, por favor. (Spain) / Un pasaje or un tiquete (Colombia) | Say the country’s word and nobody blinks |
| A single | Un billete sencillo. (Spain) | A one-journey ticket. In Mexico sencillo means small change, so ask for un boleto |
| A return | Ida y vuelta. | |
| One way | Solo ida. | |
| Two, please | Dos, por favor. | Enough at a window |
| How much is the fare? | ¿Cuánto cuesta el pasaje? / ¿Cuánto es el boleto? | Pasaje and tarifa both work in Latin America |
| Where do I buy the ticket? | ¿Dónde compro el boleto? | |
| Ticket office | la taquilla (Mexico, Spain) / la boletería (Argentina) / la taquilla (Colombia) | |
| Machine | la máquina | |
| Does it take cards? | ¿Acepta tarjeta? | Many machines and windows are cash only |
| I need change | Necesito cambio. | |
| Student, senior fare | tarifa de estudiante, tarifa de adulto mayor | Usually needs a local card |
The card
In every one of the four cities you pay with a tap card, and each card has a name. If you get the name right, you save yourself a long conversation.
| Mexico City | Madrid | Bogotá | Buenos Aires | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The card | la tarjeta de Movilidad Integrada (people just say la tarjeta del metro) | la Tarjeta Multi for single and ten-trip tickets, el abono for the monthly pass | la tarjeta TuLlave | la tarjeta SUBE |
| Top it up | recargar | recargar | recargar | cargar or recargar |
| Where to say it | ¿Dónde recargo la tarjeta? | ¿Dónde puedo recargar? | ¿Dónde recargo la TuLlave? | ¿Dónde cargo la SUBE? |
| Tap it | pasar la tarjeta | pasar la tarjeta | pasar la tarjeta | apoyar la SUBE |
| The barrier | el torniquete | el torno | el torniquete | el molinete |
| Balance | el saldo | el saldo | el saldo | el saldo |
Madrid’s abono is a monthly pass, not a ticket. The abono transportes is loaded on a personal card with your photo and covers the metro, the buses and Cercanías inside your zone for thirty days. A visitor for a week does not want one. Ask for una Tarjeta Multi con diez viajes, a ten-trip ticket.
The SUBE is the only way onto a Buenos Aires bus. Coins have not been the normal fare for years. Buy the card at a kiosk, say ¿Vende SUBE?, and load it at a kiosco, a lottery agency or a machine in the subte.
In Bogotá the card is the fare. No card, no TransMilenio. Buy and load it at the station window: Una TuLlave y una recarga, por favor.
In Mexico City you use one card for everything. You use the same card on the Metro, the Metrobús, the trolleybus and the Cablebús. Buy it at a metro window or a machine, then recarga.
Asking whether this is your bus
The one exchange you will have most often, standing at a kerb.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Does this bus go to…? | ¿Este camión va al Zócalo? (Mexico) / ¿Este autobús va a Atocha? (Spain) / ¿Este bus va al centro? (Colombia) / ¿Este colectivo va a Plaza Italia? (Argentina) | Swap the noun, keep the shape |
| Which one do I take for…? | ¿Cuál tomo para ir a…? | |
| Does it stop at…? | ¿Para en…? | Parar is the verb for stopping |
| Is this the stop for…? | ¿Es aquí la parada para…? / ¿Este es el paradero de…? (Colombia) | |
| How many stops? | ¿Cuántas paradas faltan? | Literally how many stops are missing |
| How long does it take? | ¿Cuánto tarda? / ¿Cuánto se demora? (Colombia) | Colombia prefers demorarse |
| Which way is it going? | ¿Para qué lado va? | |
| Where does it leave from? | ¿De dónde sale? | |
| What time is the last one? | ¿A qué hora pasa el último? |
Asking the driver to tell you where to get off
This is the sentence worth memorising word for word. Say it as you pay or tap, and most drivers will keep an eye out for you.
¿Me avisa cuando lleguemos, por favor? Will you tell me when we get there, please?
The country versions, with the right “you”:
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tell me when we arrive | ¿Me avisa cuando lleguemos? (usted) | ¿Me avisas cuando lleguemos? (tú) | ¿Me avisa cuando lleguemos? (usted) | ¿Me avisás cuando lleguemos? (vos) |
| Where do I get off for…? | ¿Dónde me bajo para…? | ¿Dónde me bajo para…? | ¿Dónde me bajo para…? | ¿Dónde me bajo para…? |
| Drop me at the corner | ¿Me deja en la esquina? | ¿Me dejas en la esquina? | ¿Me deja en la esquina? | ¿Me dejás en la esquina? |
| Next stop, please | En la próxima, por favor. | En la próxima, por favor. | En el próximo paradero, por favor. | En la próxima, por favor. |
| I’m getting off | Bajo aquí. / Voy a bajar. | Me bajo aquí. | Me bajo aquí. | Me bajo acá. |
Bajar is the verb for getting off anything: bajarse del bus, bajarse en la siguiente. Getting on is subir: me subí en el centro, I got on in the centre.
In Mexico and Colombia the driver is usted and stays usted. In Spain the driver is tú by default and usted only if he is visibly older than you. In Argentina it is vos, and che in front of the question is friendly rather than rude.
Changing lines
| You want to say | Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer, interchange | el transbordo, la correspondencia | el transbordo, la correspondencia | el transbordo | la combinación |
| Do I have to change? | ¿Tengo que hacer transbordo? | ¿Tengo que hacer transbordo? | ¿Tengo que hacer transbordo? | ¿Tengo que combinar? |
| Where do I change for line 3? | ¿Dónde hago el cambio a la línea 3? | ¿Dónde cambio a la línea 3? | ¿Dónde hago el transbordo? | ¿Dónde combino con la línea C? |
| Which direction? | ¿En qué dirección? / ¿Hacia dónde? | ¿En qué dirección? | ¿Para qué lado? | ¿Para qué lado? |
| The way out | la salida | la salida | la salida | la salida |
| Exit to the street | salida a la calle | salida a la calle | salida | salida |
Lines are named differently, and people get caught out. In Mexico City the lines have numbers and colours, and locals use both, la línea 1 and la línea rosa. In Madrid they have numbers, one to twelve, plus the Ramal. In Buenos Aires they have letters, la A, la B, la D, la E, la H, and the direction is given by the end station: dirección Catedral. Bogotá’s TransMilenio runs lettered and numbered services with express and stopping patterns, so the useful question there is ¿Este para en la Calle 100?, does this one stop at Calle 100.
What you will hear
The recorded voice and the person behind the glass, in the words they actually use.
| What you hear | What it means |
|---|---|
| Próxima estación: Insurgentes. | Next station: Insurgentes |
| Correspondencia con la línea 3. | Change here for line 3 (Mexico, Spain) |
| Combinación con la línea C. | Change here for line C (Argentina) |
| Antes de entrar, permita salir. | Let people off before you get on (Mexico City) |
| Dejen salir antes de entrar. | Same thing (Argentina, Spain) |
| Atención: estación en curva. | Curved platform, mind the gap as you step off (Madrid) |
| Estación terminal. | End of the line, everybody off |
| Este tren no efectúa parada en… | This train does not stop at… (Spain) |
| Vagones exclusivos para mujeres y niños. | Women and children only (Mexico City, marked on the platform) |
| Saldo insuficiente. | Not enough money on the card |
| Tarjeta no válida. | Card rejected |
| ¿Hasta dónde va? | How far are you going? (the Buenos Aires bus driver, and the answer sets the fare on some lines) |
| Vayan pasando. (Spain) / Recórrase, por favor. (Mexico) | Move down the bus |
| Se sube por adelante. | Get on at the front |
Customs, and what surprises visitors
People queue for the bus in Buenos Aires. A real line, in order of arrival, and if you jump it you get told off. In Bogotá people queue at the TransMilenio doors at rush hour and do not at other times. In Madrid they queue loosely. In Mexico City people do not queue much at all, and a crowded pesero is boarded by whoever is nearest the door.
Give up your seat and be quick about it. Asiento preferencial or asiento reservado seats are for older people, pregnant women and anyone with a child. In all four countries you are expected to stand up without being asked. The offer is ¿Quiere sentarse? or just standing and gesturing at the seat.
Mexico City’s metro has women-only carriages. The front cars are reserved for women and children at busy stations, marked on the platform and often separated by barriers. Men waiting in the wrong section are moved along.
Have small notes. Mexican bus drivers and conductors often cannot break a large note for a short ride. In Spain the bus driver takes cash and gives change, but in the metro nobody does that.
Ask, and then ask again. Bus routes in Mexico City and Bogotá change more often than you would think from a map, and a sign in the windscreen listing street names is more current than an app. Reading the windscreen card aloud to the driver with a question in your voice, ¿Zócalo?, is a complete and perfectly normal question.
Rush hour is real and long. La hora pico in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, la hora punta in Spain. In Bogotá there is also pico y placa, a rule under which cars with certain number plates stay off the road on certain days, so more people take the buses.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- ¿Este bus va al centro? Does this bus go to the centre?
- ¿Me avisa cuando lleguemos, por favor? Will you tell me when we get there, please?
- Una TuLlave y una recarga, por favor. A travel card and a top-up, please. (Colombia)
- ¿Dónde cargo la SUBE? Where do I top up the SUBE? (Argentina)
- Una Tarjeta Multi con diez viajes. A ten-trip ticket. (Spain)
- ¿Cuántas paradas faltan para el museo? How many stops to the museum?
- ¿Tengo que hacer transbordo? Do I have to change?
- Me bajo en la próxima, permiso. I’m getting off at the next one, excuse me.
- ¿A qué hora pasa el último camión? What time is the last bus? (Mexico)
- ¿Este colectivo para en Plaza Italia? Does this bus stop at Plaza Italia? (Argentina)
Questions people ask
Is it “autobús” or “camión”? Autobús is understood everywhere and is the safe word. In Mexico the city bus is el camión and if you say autobús, people know you are a visitor, and nobody is confused. In Argentina say colectivo.
How do I ask someone to let me past on a crowded train? Permiso is the whole sentence. Con permiso is the fuller form, and ¿Va a bajar?, are you getting off, is what people ask the person blocking the door. Neither is rude.
Does Bogotá have a metro? Not yet. The first line is under construction. TransMilenio, the articulated buses in their own lanes, is the city’s metro in practice, along with the SITP buses and the cable cars up the hillsides.
What is “el subte”? The Buenos Aires underground, short for subterráneo. Nobody there says metro. It is the oldest underground railway in Latin America.
Can I pay cash on the bus? In Spain and Mexico, usually yes. In Buenos Aires, no, the SUBE card is required. In Bogotá, no on TransMilenio and the SITP. Get a card on your first day in either city.
How do I say “I missed my stop”? Se me pasó la parada. Then ¿Dónde me bajo para volver?, where do I get off to go back.
What do I say if I get on the wrong one? Perdón, me equivoqué de bus. ¿Dónde me bajo? Excuse me, I took the wrong bus. Where do I get off.
What is “el andén” versus “la plataforma”? Andén is the platform in Mexico, Spain and Argentina. In Colombia el andén means the pavement you walk on, so ask for la plataforma there and you will be pointed the right way.
Practise these words
parada, estación, boleto, tarjeta, recargar, bajar, subir, avisar, esquina, tardar, transbordo, andén, saldo. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.