Day 15 (5/9) Trying out the bus system

Today, Nick and I took a quick taxi ride to Behrooz’s business. From there, we hopped on one of the new rapid transit buses to head to Engalab square for some shopping. On the bus, men and women ride separately – women in front. While that sounds extreme to us in the West, it’s really only a short metal bar that separates the genders, and I was easily able to stand right next to Nick. The buses are great; they run on electricity from overhead wires and have their own dedicated lane, so they zip through congested Tehran. The new bus passenger platforms are also very nice - they are surrounded with clear tinted glass and are equipped with flat screen monitors with travel information. Unlike in Seattle, nobody actually checks passengers' tickets - people are more or less trusted to pay, although some random checks do take place. And the buses are extremely inexpensive – only about two cents per rider. They are heavily used, especially at peak times. From where we got off, we walked a fair bit. Being from a city one seventh the size of Tehran, the crowds, noise, and smoke does tend to tire us out after a while. We walked near the University of Tehran, where Nick studied for his Bachelor’s degree. We stopped at a bakery that Nick used to visit as a student – it’s been in business about 70 years, and they still serve the same gigantic cream puffs – these things are bigger than one’s fist. For old time’s sake, we just had to have one – yummm!

We decided to take a taxi home since the buses were crowded by that time. Taxis are fairly cheap as well – about $1.50 for a half-hour ride back home. We had a couple of funny experiences along the way. At one point while stuck in traffic, the taxi driver needed change. He rolled down his window, yelled across to the car next to him to see if that driver had any change. So they exchanged bills right there while in traffic. At another point we were stopped at a traffic light. The traffic lights in Tehran have a digital countdown above them, so you know exactly how many seconds until the light will turn – usually about 60-80 seconds. A driver ahead of us needed to grab some cigarettes, so as soon as he stopped at the light, he hopped out of his car, leaving it running, ran into a small shop along sidewalk, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and was back in his vehicle by the time the red light had reached only 3 seconds left on the clock. Quite impressive!