jamaica: mobay route taxi

at the taxi depot

in montego bay, they have this 'route' taxis.  bit like mini-buses, these sedan/minivan cabs have their regular route on the front door of the car, and you just hop on and off anywhere on the route.  that's the public transit here.

btw, GDP per capita for jamaica was 4862 USD (2016) and for canada, 42,157 USD. for lack of better/common measurement, a canadian is 8 times wealthier than a jamaican (per capita).
that's shocking.

anyhow, back to route taxis, they cost 100 jamaican dollars for ride (1 CAD/80 cents USD) and if you have backpack, it's extra 50 JD. i think kids were also at half price. so people pile in at the depot, and the car leaves when the seats are full. i have seen similar things for regional transit in uzbekistan- in fact, that was the only way to leave samarkand to get to dushanbe, tajikistan (like 9 hours taxi ride). and you simply flag it down when you need to get into one.

i always rode in from the taxi depot, as it was close to the hostel, and as the 'airport' route covers a few resorts and tourist things (including the famous jimmie buffet's margaritaville location), there were always taxis running.

getting in on the depot was easy. but i was rather unsuccessful in trying to flag one down to get back tot he hostel.  you see, i was clearly a non-local and as an average tourist, i was supposed to flag down the empty taxi for my own ride (this costs in USD, anywhere from 5-10. they will call from 10, then negotiate). so whenever i was flagging a route taxi, they will gesture: 'not free for your ride, miss!'

so local jamaicans would flag one down for me. they would ask where im from, and which resort im staying at. whenever i say im not at the resort, they would make sure the driver understand that im going to the depot, and that he must take good care of me ( i did not see a single woman taxi driver, though there were enough woman private drivers).

on sticky seats, we go. and people just pay the dude, and got off to go wherever they needed to go. and they were always courteous, even when a few people put a definite 'distance' from me, the foreigner (two kids and a young man).

sometimes they offer me a bit of peanuts (literal peanuts), or simple chat. and often they would offer to sell some pot. it was funny trying to explain that i get sick from smoking pot. one man was so convinced that it's because canadian pot is garbage, and that i must try. lol.

with gasoline price around 1.80 CAD for litre, this is good solution for local transit. i still cant believe that price. so high.

i did like riding on the route taxi. probably that was the only time i was skin-to-skin to a jamaican.  i wanted to smell, see and feel the local life, and that certainly did work.

and every taxi played either reggae or contemporary worship music (hill music, it's called?).  seatbelt was recommended but i dont think it was ever enforced- as many drivers drove while warning alarm beeped away.

windows down, air flowing in. with not-so-soft-reggae.
crumpled, old, worn 100 JD bill.
that's route taxi for mobay.

view from the taxi, waiting for it to fill up