196 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 11 



In 1945 there were owned in Quiroga 1 motorcycle, 

 13 bicycles, 8 passenger automobiles, 6 trucks 

 {camiones de cargo), and 3 pick-up trucks {camio- 

 netas). Fourteen individuals, all of them mer- 

 chants or industrialists, own the 18 motor vehicles, 

 and one of these men owns 2 trucks and 2 auto- 

 mobiles. The most important factor in the 

 transportation set-up in Quiroga consists of the 

 numerous freight and passenger truck lines which 

 operate through Quiroga, although no transpor- 

 tation company has a formal depot or station in 

 Quiroga. However, there are eight men in 

 Quiroga who work frequently or steadily as 

 drivers {choferes) or conductors and fare collectors 

 {cobradores) for several of the cooperative bus 

 liues which run through Quiroga. The first bus 

 line over the Pacific highway (C. N. No. 4) was 

 established in 1937. Since then, on the basis of 

 laws 1937/1938 regulatiug cooperatives, numerous 

 cooperative "societies" of limited responsibility 

 (S. C. L.) were set up in the fields of passenger 

 and cargo transportation. These autotransport 

 companies are of two general types: those originat- 

 ing in Mexico City, Guadalajara, or in-between 

 points (Zitacuaro, Morelia, Patzcuaro, Tacam- 

 baro, Ario, Uruapan, Zamora, Sahuayo, and 

 Tizapan) which run busses and trucks from the 

 starting point to Mexico City and Guadalajara; 

 and local regional lines which cover segments of 

 the Mexico City — Guadalajara route and adja- 

 cent areas off the main highways. There are at 

 least a dozen bus lines which operate through 

 Quiroga, and more than 40 passenger busses go 

 through Quiroga daily. The comparatively few 

 (eight) first-class busses {Sermcio de primera clase) 

 discharge passengers in Quiroga, but commonly 

 do not stop to take on passengers. Practically 

 all of the other busses make regular stops to dis- 

 charge and take on passengers; a number stop 10 

 minutes to half an hoiu* to allow passengers to eat 

 in the restaurants or purchase food from the 

 corner puestos ; and several busses stop for incoming 

 and outgoing mail. All stops are made near the 

 intersection of Juarez, Nacional, Zaragoza, and 

 the Plaza Principal, where there is the greatest 

 concentration of restaurants, food, soft drinks, 

 ice cream, and cigarette puestos, and curiosity 

 shops. 



BUS LINES 



The leading bus liae is the Federacion de Coope- 

 rativas "Estrella de Occidente," which runs first- 

 and second-class busses directly between Mexico 

 City and Guadalajara, with a limited number of 

 stops en route. This federation of cooperatives 

 (all of whose busses carry a large white star in a 

 circle with the letters "EG" inside of the star) 

 also provides local second-class service between 

 Mexico City and Morelia, Mexico City and Tiza- 

 pan, Mexico City and Uruapan, Mexico City and 

 Sahuayo, Morelia and Guadalajara, Zitacuaro and 

 Tacambaro, Morelia and Tacambaro, Morelia and 

 Uruapan, Morelia and Zamora, and Morelia and 

 Tizapan. All of these busses run through Quiroga. 

 The busses of this line and all others are commonly 

 referred to SLsflechas (arrows), although none car- 

 ries an arrow at the present time, and it has been 

 many years since a red arrow was employed as a 

 distinctive symbol. First-class busses normally 

 are decorated in blue and white, and second-class 

 busses are painted in red and white, although one 

 local second-class line has painted its busses in 

 blue and cream. In addition to "class" colors, 

 the name and sjonbol of the line, and the names 

 of the terminal cities in large letters, nearly every 

 bus has its individual name (like Pullman cars), 

 which may be that of a place along the route (e. g., 

 Zapotlanejo), some regional item of note (e. g., 

 Mariachi), etc. 



Other bus lines are: 



"La Occidental de Transportes," Mexico-Morelia-Guada- 



lajara, second class. 

 Sociedad Cooperativa de Trabajadores de Auto-Trans- 



portes, Mexico - Morelia - Pdtzcuaro - Uruapan - Guadala- 



jara-Le6n, second class. 

 "Valle de Guayangareo," Mexico-Morelia-Piitzcuaro-Urua- 



pan-Guadalajara-Le6n, second class. 

 Auto-Transportes "El Duero," Mexico-Morelia-Guadala- 



jara-Uruapan, second class. 

 Sociedad Cooperativa de Auto-Transportes de Pasajeros 



"El Aguila," Mexico-Morelia-Guadalajara, second class. 

 Sociedad Cooperativa "Transportes del Suroeste," Morelia- 



Quiroga-Pdtzcuaro, second-class mixed passengers and 



freight. 

 Sociedad Cooperativa de Auto-Transportes "Tacamba," 



Morelia-Pdtzcuaro-Tacdmbaro, second class. 

 Sociedad Michoacana de Auto-Transportes del Suroeste, 



Ario-Pdtzcuaro-Quiroga-Morelia, second class. 

 Name not ascertained, Morelia-Quiroga-Comanja-Coeneo- 



Huaniqueo, second-class mixed passengers and freight. 



