47 images Created 13 Dec 2008
Panama - The Diablos Rojos are coming back.
The Diablos Rojos are retaking the streets of Panama City. For decades, the iconic and picturesque 'Red Devils', the old school bus from the United States transformed into works of pop art, have been Panama's traditional public but privately owned transportation system. The bus owners drove Diablos Rojos around the city, picking up passengers and taking them to their destinations without a real plan. The drivers choose their routes, with only an airbrush painted on the front of the bus, signaling the start and end destinations. Intense competition among the drivers was a stimulus to disobey transit rules, and the bus's interior was a moving discotheque, with music at high volume, poor ventilation, and any lack of security, transforming the buses into an uncomfortable transport system. In December 2010, a fleet of 1200 new Metrobus, a state-owned company with air conditioning and uniformed drivers, replaced the Diablos Rojos. However, today, Metrobus services remain unstable. There are several routes out of service, with numerous challenges ranging from improving the frequency and punctuality of buses to the need for more infrastructure and maintenance of the vehicle fleet. Half of the public transport buses are out of operation, in addition to the daily traffic congestion, and the complaints are innumerable. The Diablos Rojos have become a transportation option for users again, and the Transit and Land Transport Authority (ATTT) has stated that approximately 690 of them are operating, mainly in Panama City and around the capital. However, although they arrive faster, passengers accept that it is unsafe, but they have no choice after waiting more than an hour for a Metrobus in the paid area. So they are obliged to pay again to take Diablos Rojos so full that passengers enter from behind, in vehicles with excessive noise and sometimes even with speed, such is the insecurity that the driver's assistant closes the rear door with a padlock to avoid accidents.
These decorated buses, a testament to the resilience and adaptability of Panama City, first appeared in 1911 from the U.S. Canal Zone and, by the 1960s, transformed the streets into an authentic cultural experience. Many buses have elaborate paintings of religious icons, pop culture heroes, actresses, sports stars, and politicians, with flashing exterior lights and salty street expressions. Panamà City expresses its popular culture and beliefs through the bus painting as murals do for other cities. Oscar, one of the last Diablos Rojos painters, still lives transforming these old buses into decorative transport. For him, the finished look is a collaboration of the owner's desires and the painter's artistic imagination. Years ago, he was worried about the future, mainly because of the new bus system, but today, he smiles again, nearly sure that many inhabitants, not to speak of the delightful tourists, still seem to appreciate this expression of popular art.
These decorated buses, a testament to the resilience and adaptability of Panama City, first appeared in 1911 from the U.S. Canal Zone and, by the 1960s, transformed the streets into an authentic cultural experience. Many buses have elaborate paintings of religious icons, pop culture heroes, actresses, sports stars, and politicians, with flashing exterior lights and salty street expressions. Panamà City expresses its popular culture and beliefs through the bus painting as murals do for other cities. Oscar, one of the last Diablos Rojos painters, still lives transforming these old buses into decorative transport. For him, the finished look is a collaboration of the owner's desires and the painter's artistic imagination. Years ago, he was worried about the future, mainly because of the new bus system, but today, he smiles again, nearly sure that many inhabitants, not to speak of the delightful tourists, still seem to appreciate this expression of popular art.
