From the mule to the bus, an exhibition tells the history of transportation in La Paz

The passage of time in La Paz, the seat of the Bolivian Government nestled between mountains, is evident in an exhibition that narrates the history of La Paz transport from the train trains of mules and llamas at the end of the 17th century, passing through the tram and the buses , to the modern buses that today run through its steep streets.

The exhibition, which includes photographs, videos and scale models of the vehicles, was installed in the Museo Costumbrista "John Vargas"at the initiative of the Federation of Salaried Drivers of National and International Transport supported by the Municipal Secretariat of Cultures.

You want to show the people of La Paz "the history of transportation" in the city since its inception and is also a tribute to the various generations of drivers, whose day was remembered on November 16, the national executive of the federation, Milton Goyonaga, explained to EFE.

As children and grandchildren of the first generations of public carriers, those affiliated with the federation took the initiative to seek information for the exhibition and also rescued old photographs from their family collections that are added to other images from the same museum.

"We have investigated why our society needs to know the history of transportation. There are no books, there is no museum to be able to show part of the past that is related to transportation"Goyonaga commented.

When inaugurating the exhibition, the head of the Museum Unit of the La Paz municipality, Vania Coronado, highlighted that "the means of transport has been a mechanism" for "measure the modernity of cities, of societies".

THE BEGINNINGS

The exhibition begins in a space where small figures of men herding mules and llamas are exhibited, the so-called "blood transport"that is, the one that used animals, indicated Goyonaga.

These men, mostly mestizo and indigenous, were known as "trajineros" and they were the first "transport entrepreneurs" They emerged between the end of the 17th century and the middle of the 18th century with services for the transfer of food, minerals and other objects, according to information from the Ministry of Cultures.

The growth of the city, with a complicated topography, also meant a change in its form of transport.

Is "revolution" it became more pronounced after the Bolivian federal war (1898-1899) which ended with the transfer of the seat of government from Sucre, the Bolivian constitutional capital, to La Paz.

Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, a tram was installed in the city and the first automobiles arrived, reflected in miniatures of these transports.

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This segment is complemented by photographs of the first automobiles that arrived in Bolivia, including one by Austrian archaeologist Arthur Posnansky dating from 1904, and other scenes from the route of the La Paz trams.

Then the calls came "chaucheros" or taxi services for rent, which according to Goyonaga were the first public transport vehicles.

The first unions of carriers arose in the 1940s and it was at that time that, among others, the Owners, Drivers and Collectors societies of what are considered the four lines were created. "traditional" of minibuses and groups that last until these times, indicated the leader.

Each line was identified by a distinctive color. For example, blue distinguished the vehicles on line 2, which to this day are one of the few that continue to circulate on the same route and with the same colour.

THE "GOLDEN ERA"

In the middle of the room, placed on special podiums, various models and colors of minibuses and buses are displayed.

The first buses arrived in La Paz at the beginning of the 1970s and that decade is precisely considered the "Golden era" public transportation, Goyonaga explained.

"During that time, our teachers have provided services in the most responsible way, because the driver had to dress well, have a cap, his watch, he had to arrive on time and the bus had to be impeccable."he stressed.

Respect for the routes also prevailed and there was "a lot of control" internal through route managers, inspectors and stop agents, among others, to guarantee a "good user service"he added.

The leader reflected that this has been lost over time and expressed his wish that "come back to the way it was before".

These four societies later became the Litoral, Eduardo Avaroa, San Cristóbal and Villa Victoria mixed unions, the most emblematic of the city that now also have in their ranks the so-called "minibuses" that currently fill the streets of La Paz.

OTHER MOTORIZED

The exhibition also includes a space dedicated to the beginnings of interprovincial transport, with models of the traditional trucks that made these routes full of products, people and even some animals, as well as the first interdepartmental service buses.

There are also two replicas of the state transport buses that covered the route between La Paz and the neighboring city of El Alto.

The leap to modernity is reflected in the "cougarkatari" and the "ChikiTiti"the buses of the transport system launched by the municipality in 2014.

The exhibition will be open until December 31.

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