a Lima transportation guide
Official buses: These buses run fairly routinely and stop regularly at all paraderos. Dependable, legit, and safe. They also look like real public buses. The T and the A are personal favorites. The Corredor Azul is the only bus that runs down Arequipa, I’m pretty sure the fare is S/1.50 no matter where you’re going which doesn’t really make sense and is unnecessarily expensive for a service that may or may not get you to your destination before the end of the 21st century.
Micros/Combis: Still not really sure what the difference is between the two - I think combis are smaller? The terms are interchangeable. These are buses that look more like vans that have destinations painted along the side and a cobrador/a calling out destinations at every stop. They range anywhere from nice, clean and new to literally falling apart during the drive. They’re not necessarily as “safe" as the buses but as long as you’re not waving your laptop and iPhone around you’ll be fine. Also a lot of the safe/not safe bit is up to pure chance. Whereas official buses like the T, the A, the 209, the Corredor Azul, etc. can demora un poco, you can always, always count on at least 10 combis passing in a 5 minute period. Probably more, honestly. And since combis are literally everywhere, you can mix and match your routes. Finding a micro to La Marina taking too long? No problem, just catch one to calle Brazil and pick up a different one from there. Micros and combis are generally cheaper than official buses as well. The nice thing about micros too is that, while the official buses generally only stop at the official stops (they will literally drive straight by you if you’re not at an official paradero even if you’re waving at them like a crazy person to flag them down), micros will stop to pick you up almost anywhere.
Taxis: Taxi Beat and Easy Taxi are two popular taxi apps. They’re safe as all of the drivers go through background checks. They work a lot like uber in that you call them using an app from your location and can plug in your desired location and it’ll give you a price estimate and show you where your driver is/how long it’ll take them to arrive. You can also take street taxis, you just have to use your better judgement. Make sure it says TAXI on the top of the car (rather than just on the dashboard) and that it has a plate number along the side and that it’s generally a nice car. For street taxis, always negotiate the price before stepping into the cab because once you’re in it’s obviously more difficult to talk them down. Late at night I would always, always recommend calling for a Taxi Beat/Easy Taxi/Uber instead of taking a street taxi - if you have to take a street taxi late at night have a friend ride with you or if you’re riding alone have a friend write down the plate number along the side. Once I took a street taxi at 1am in a kind of sketchy neighborhood and luckily I was fine but the driver spent the entire drive telling me about how I need to be careful and about all of the things that could potentially befall me taking street taxis late at night, not the most comforting experience.
Uber: Our study abroad program told us that Uber isn’t safe in Lima so I didn’t bother using it. Several girls in our program used it though and never had a problem and also reported that it was cheaper than taxis.
Mototaxis: Kind of like glorified rickshaws. You won’t find these in more “developed” (for lack of a better word but it kind of just sounds like a classist euphemism sorry) areas of Lima like Miraflores, Barranco, San Isidro, etc. but they are v common in areas like Villa El Salvador and Pamplona, as well as in Iquitos. I definitely feared for my life the first few times I traveled by mototaxis because it kind of feels like being stuffed in an unstable clown car that’s gonna jut you out at the next turn. But I lived to tell the tale!
Random cars: Along Arequipa the only bus you’ll find is the Corredor Azul, which as I mentioned earlier is next-level slow. Lima is full of ingenuity and so to fill the need for a faster form of transportation, taxis and random dudes in cars drive down Arequipa stopping at the paraderos of the Corredor Azul offering rides. They are generally a bit more expensive but will get you to your destination in half the time.
Metropolitana: a metro system that goes through Lima, tbh I only used it twice because you have to have a metro pass and it didn’t really stop in locations where I needed to be. But it exists!
Linea 1: The train system, you also need a pass for this one. I used it to travel from Miraflores to Villa El Salvador where I did volunteer work and it was always super clean and nice. They were also really helpful the first few times I was using it and had no idea of what I was doing.
Bus Advice in general: have your money ready to go or at least easily accessible before getting on the bus because there’s never a guarantee that you’ll be able to get a seat and have the opportunity to go searching through your bag. You have never truly understood the meaning of “packed in like sardines” before experiencing public transportation during Lima rush-hour (7-9am, 5-7pm thereabouts). In terms of safety, keep your bag on your lap or in front of you - just generally somewhere where you can see it. I never felt unsafe using public transportation but better safe than sorry. The drivers and cobradores (people who collect your bus fare) are generally super nice and will help you out if you need help finding a stop. Even people from Lima ask them for help so don’t worry you won’t seem touristy or dumb for asking them to let you know when you reach a certain stop (that was a fear that I had). Also feel free to just ask the people around you, in my experience Peruvians are super nice and will always help you out if they can.