Mercedez-Benz OH 1718L-SB

Location: Avenida 9 de Julio at Vilamonte, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Operator of Vehicle: Micro Ómnibus 45 S.A.
Date of Photo: January 10, 2018

Your eyes are not deceiving you and this isn’t some kind of April Fool’s joke.  This is a bus with “left hand drive” operating in a country where vehicles drive on the right side of the road.  But what is that bus going in the opposite direction doing to the left of the approaching bus (from my angle as the photographer)?  

These buses are traveling along Avenida 9 de Julio, which is considered to be the widest street in the world according to Guinness World Records.  It is about 361 feet (110 meters) wide, with seven general purpose lanes in each direction flanked by a separate two lane street on each side and four bus lanes (two for each direction) in the middle.  The result is a street wider than a typical Manhattan city block that takes several light cycles to cross in its entirety as a pedestrian.

In 2013, the busway, formally known as the Metrobus 9 de Julio line opened.  Unlike the city’s other Metrobus routes, the Avenida 9 de Julio route was constructed with island platforms for its stations rather than side platforms.  This is what necessitates the buses to run on the “wrong” side of the street, as the buses need to be positioned so that the doors on the right side of the vehicle open on to the platforms.  In addition, due to the high volume of bus traffic in the busway, each direction has two lanes so that buses loading passengers can be overtaken by other buses.  Pavement markings indicate where each route is supposed to stop for the benefit of bus drivers and also help to facilitate vehicular movements as buses pull in to and pull away from the platforms.  It is an impressive sight to take in.

For more photos of Metrobus 9 de Julio, please click here.