Coming from Seattle, I was used to having a choice of apps to track bus progress real-time, schedules that actually meant something, drivers that stopped at bus stops, and relative peace and quiet. None of these even vaguely resembles the Salvador bus system. We now have an app with routes and schedules, but that’s about […]
I can always tell when I’m on the bus with someone that has never taken the bus to the Pelourinho. As we go through the commercial stretch of Avenida Sete de Setembro they start looking around nervously, suddenly thinking the are on the wrong bus. Then, when the bus stops at Praca da Sé and […]
Uber took Salvador, Brazil by storm in 2016. And where economic success is found, competitors are sure to follow. Just as we saw in the US when Uber and Lyft came to town, when Uber arrived in Salvador the taxis largely got their act together — finally providing usable apps and cleaner taxis. The same […]
I first found out that Uber was in Salvador back in early 2016 when a friend of mine came to dinner and was raving about this super-cheap taxi alternative he was using. “Oooohhh-bah” it was called. Since I hadn’t yet tuned my ear to the Brazilian accent, I couldn’t figure out that he was talking […]