Buses In Grenada- a dichotomy

Buses in Grenada are nothing like back home. At home we have standardized buses which would have the following characteristics:

• standardized buses with identifiable colours and branding
• drivers with uniforms and visible ID
• a token or coin collection method in which you deposit your - or better still a monthly bus pass
• a relatively quiet environment
• transfers so you can go the entire way on one ticket
• standard routes
• strict adherence to highway rules

Students waiting at the bus station

Here the buses do have numbers and set routes. They will deviate from those routes however if someone needs to take a detour to get closer to where they are going.


I learned that there are slow buses and fast buses. The teachers at NEWLO saw me arrive on a fast bus, which was akin to riding a rollercoaster with a rasta soundtrack blaring in your ears. They advised me that any bus the students were on I should get off, as those were the fast drivers. This proved true as Sister MaryAnn and Brother Saul helped me get a bus back to St. George and it was indeed slower, calmer and I could carry on a conversation with them without feeling the need to pray every minute or two!



buses leaving the station

The buses have a driver and a wing man (conductor). The wing man slides open the rear door (while the vehicle is moving) to let people in and out. He also collects all the fares. It is quiet a different system but it seems to work relatively well. You can seat about 15-18 people in the bus (including the driver and wing man), I don't think about how many it should legally hold. Actually I doubt there is a law, since drinking and driving is not illegal... something else I try not to think about.

Bus with an awesome wing man

There is a central station in St. George where all the connections are made. It is $4 ECD to NEWLO and it would be another $2.50ECD to get the bus back to our house. Right now the tunnel that connects Carnage to the downtown is closed so I walk about a kilometer and Brent picks me up near the shipping yard at the round-about. It would only be about another 1.3 km but up hill and with a backpack, dress and truthfully pretty good shoes, it would take about 30 minutes.

Like anywhere there are good drivers and scary ones and today heading to Pink Gin Beach we saw a pretty awesome wing man. Two little children got off the bus unaccompanied, and the wing man walked them across the busy street before jumping back in with his passengers. I definitely approve!