What happens to yellow school buses retired from commission in the United States? They start a new colorful life as Chicken Buses in Guatemala. When American school buses reach the age of ten years or 150,000 miles, they are sold at auction. Many of these buses are bought and driven down through Mexico to Guatemala and other Central American countries where they are prepared for their second lives. Instead of carting children to school, the buses spend their second life transporting people often filled to the brim with goods and driving at high speeds over mountain passes. The word “chicken” refers to the fact that rural Guatemalans occasionally transport live animals such as chicken – a practice that visitors from other countries often find remarkable.
Photo by roaming-the-planet.