More than 6.500 passengers used the Interlinea buses on the first day of service Thurdsay. Silvia Bolaños, deputy minister of Transport, described the service as a “sucxessfull” start to the project.
The Intelinea bus service had been on the planning board for more than five years. On Thursday, following a number of false starts, buses started weaving through the streets of Escazú, Pavas, La Uruca, Guadalupe and Desamparados without a stop in downtown San José.
Initially the Interlinea was planned with five routes, however, given the traffic chaos of San José caused with the closure of the Cirncunvalación, the government chose to fast track the project, implementing quickly the three routes: Escazú – La Uruca; La Uruca – Guadalupe; and, Guadalupe – Desamparados.
Each route takes about 45 minutes in each direction with up to 60 stops.
Bolaños said that the busiest times on Thursday were at 6:45am and at 4:30pm.
The deputy minister added that they are working on a hotline for users to make suggestions or complaints.
The Interlinea is a pilot project for a three month period after which the Ministerio de Transportes will make an assessment and any changes to the service.