01 · Pricing it before you commit
¿Cuánto cuesta la tarjeta de transporte?
How much does the transport card cost?
Ask this before topping up — passes and cards vary enough by city that guessing costs you money.
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Commuter
Buy the pass, find your stop, and survive a delay — asking out loud in Spanish.
The word for bus changes more than almost any other in Spanish: el camión in Mexico, el colectivo or el bondi in Argentina, la micro in Chile, la guagua in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Rush hour is la hora pico across Latin America — la hora punta will mark you as having learned from a European textbook. And the question that gets you home is ¿en qué parada me bajo? — which stop do I get off at? — plus el transbordo when you need to change lines.
Below: the ticket, route and delay vocabulary that runs a commute, region by region — and a way to rehearse asking for it out loud, not memorize it from a list.
The warm-up pack
What actually gets said on the platform — asking, missing it, and finding the way around.
01 · Pricing it before you commit
¿Cuánto cuesta la tarjeta de transporte?
How much does the transport card cost?
Ask this before topping up — passes and cards vary enough by city that guessing costs you money.
02 · The question that saves you standing around
¿Cada cuánto pasa el autobús?
How often does the bus come?
One clean question instead of squinting at a timetable in a language that's still new.
03 · Naming why everything's slow
Es la hora punta otra vez.
It's rush hour again.
Hora punta is the term across most of Spain and much of Latin America — hora pico shows up too, but this one lands everywhere.
04 · Asking for the way around
¿Cuál es la ruta alternativa?
What's the alternative route?
The line that turns a stalled commute into a plan instead of a wait.
05 · When it's down and there's a way around it
Está parado el metro, hay ruta alterna.
The metro's down, there's an alternate route.
Leading with the verb — está parado — is how it's actually said when something's stopped, not el metro está parado.
06 · Catching the very last one
¿A qué hora pasa la última micro?
What time does the last bus come by?
Micro is Chile's word for city bus — swap in autobús or camión depending where you are, the question shape stays the same.
07 · Not missing your stop
Me bajo en la siguiente.
I get off at the next stop.
Short and automatic — this is what locals say instead of translating 'I need to get off' word for word.
08 · When you genuinely don't know
¿En qué parada me bajo?
Which stop do I get off at?
Asking this out loud is what confident riders do — it's not a beginner question, it's just what you ask.
09 · The one every local has said once
Ya me dejó el camión.
The bus already left without me.
Camión is Mexico's word for bus — this exact line is what gets said, resigned, at the stop.
10 · Finding where to load your card
¿Dónde está la máquina expendedora?
Where's the ticket machine?
This gets you pointed at the right machine before you've wasted a trip to the wrong window.
11 · Reporting what's actually happening
Hay paro de subte.
There's a metro strike.
Subte is Buenos Aires' word for the metro — worth knowing even if you never say paro, because you'll hear it announced.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/commuterRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| bus | el camión | el bondi |
| metro / subway | el metro | el subte |
| transport card | la tarjeta | la SUBE |
| I missed the bus | ya me dejó el camión | se me escapó el bondi |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
There are no flashcards in the Commuter lessons — you learn transit words by using them under mild pressure, the way you will at a ticket window. Olivia puts you at the metro station buying a monthly pass: you ask about zones, prices, and whether there's a discount. Then you're on a bus asking the driver where to get off for your destination, and finally standing on a platform when your connection is delayed — asking ¿hay ruta alterna? and how long the wait is. Say it out loud enough times and the panic of a disrupted commute turns into a conversation you know how to have.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Commuter is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Depends where you are: el camión in Mexico, el colectivo or slangy el bondi in Argentina and Uruguay, la micro in Chile, la guagua in Cuba and the DR, el bus in Colombia and Venezuela. El autobús is understood everywhere but sounds bookish in most of Latin America.
¿En qué parada me bajo? — which stop do I get off at? When yours is coming up, Mexicans say me bajo en la siguiente (I get off at the next one). For changing lines, ask about el transbordo — or use the everyday phrase hacer combinación.
La parada is a surface stop — bus or tram. La estación is a bigger hub: train, metro, or a major terminal. Getting them right matters when you ask for directions, because locals will send you to very different places.
¿Cada cuánto pasa? — how often does it come? And before a night out, always check ¿a qué hora es el último tren? In Chile you'd hear ¿a qué hora pasa la última micro? Missing the last connection is the classic commuter mistake — build in buffer time.
Mexicans report it as está parado el metro — the metro is stopped. In Argentina a strike is hay paro de subte. Your next move is asking for la ruta alternativa — in Mexico, simply ¿hay ruta alterna? — or checking for el servicio de autobús sustitutivo, the replacement bus.