Editing Transport in Nicaragua (section)

====Urban buses====

[[File:Urban bus at Ferrecalle, Estelí.jpg|thumb|Former school bus at Ferrecalle in [[Estelí]] used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Oscar Gamez.]]

[[File:Urban bus at Hospital, Estelí.jpg|thumb|Former school bus at Hospital in [[Estelí]] used as urban bus on the line from Hospital to Villa Cuba.]]

[[Transit bus|Urban buses]] (''Urbanos'') can be found in [[Managua]], [[Estelí]], [[León, Nicaragua|León]], [[Chinandega]], [[Matagalpa]] and [[Bluefields]]. In most cases, [[passengers]] have to pay for each ride on a bus, with the need to pay again when switching to another. The costs differ from 2.50 C$ in [[Managua]] to 10 C$ in [[Bluefields]].<ref name=gestern-heute-öffentlicher-verkehr/>

An urban bus in Nicaragua takes the same road multiple times per day, following a more or less strict [[Public transport timetable|schedule]]. The organization of the buses in different towns differs heavily as every town is organizing it on their own behalf. In Estelí, every bus driver is assisted by mostly two persons helping them (''Ayudantes''). Bus drivers in Managua have to manage their jobs on their own.<ref name=gestern-heute-öffentlicher-verkehr/>

Another fact that heavily differs is the vehicles used in the different cities. In Managua mostly urban buses sponsored by [[Russia]] are used, in Estelí former school buses from the [[United States]], in Bluefields [[Japan]]ese [[Light commercial vehicle|light commercial]] [[van]]s and in León [[pickup trucks]] that got extended with seats and a roof.<ref name=gestern-heute-öffentlicher-verkehr/>

[[File:Bus stop sign in Estelí.jpg|thumb|Bus stop sign in [[Estelí]]]]

The quality of [[bus stops]] also heavily differs. In the center of Managua many proper bus stops exist with roofs or at least signs, in other areas there often isn't any indication of a bus stop. Nevertheless, buses serve a network of established stops with common names known by bus assistants. Passengers need to know or ask where and when which bus stops.<ref name=gestern-heute-öffentlicher-verkehr/>

To improve the accessibility of public transport, in 2016 the [[OpenStreetMap]] group in Nicaragua [https://www.mapanica.net/comunidad.html MapaNica] [[Crowdsourcing|crowdsourced]] with the help of more than 150 citizens of Managua the first bus [[transit map]] in the whole of [[Central America]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://confidencial.com.ni/the-true-geographers-take-the-buses/ |title=The true geographers take the bus |last=Delattre |first=Felix |date=February 2, 2016 |publisher=Confidencial |access-date=July 23, 2018 |quote="But two years ago, a group inhabitants of Managua by own initiative decided to take the feat and create the first bus network map in whole Central America. [...] This way more than 150 citizens collaborated in this gigantic task to map all routes and bus stops of the two cities. [...] The map is handed over today at 9am at one of the main and most central bus stops (UCA)."}}</ref> Later in 2018, they made this data machine-accessible, serving it today in different apps on several platforms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.mapanica.net/presentation-casa-vinculos-esteli/ |title=OpenStreetMap and the Buses in Nicaragua – Presentation in Casa Vínculos, Estelí |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 8, 2018 |publisher=MapaNica |access-date=July 23, 2018 |quote="Six months later, the two groups started working together to improve the dates and to bring the project to the next level which they presented in this talk: the first mobile application to navigate through the public transport in Managua, Estelí and some national routes."}}</ref>

Urban buses in Managua will be use Brazilian [[dual-mode bus]] and [[hybrid electric bus]] that are currently in evaluation process.