Ecuador: Public Transport Safety, How to avoid a kidnap express

PUBLIC TRANSPORT SECURITY SAFETY ISSUES IN ECUADOR

GOV.UK – fco

Transport safety

There has been an increase in robberies on interstate transport and at bus stations, especially Quito, Baños and Latacunga tourist towns. Most incidents took place at night. Where possible you should avoid travelling by road after dark. Cases involving British nationals have been reported on the routes between Quito and Baños; Baños and Cuenca; Quito and Tulcan; Quito and Guayaquil; Quito and Cuenca; Quito and Puyo; Quito and Latacunga; Quito and Otavalo; Cuenca and Ambato; Guayaquil and Cuenca; and Latacunga and Quilotoa. Avoid taking interstate buses with a reputation for stopping to pick up passengers at night as many criminals use this means to attack passengers.

Express kidnappings – short-term opportunistic abductions, aimed at extracting cash from the victim – also occur, particularly in Quito and Guayaquil. Victims can be targeted or selected at random and held while criminals empty their bank accounts with stolen cash cards. This type of crime can involve illegitimate and registered taxis. Ecuadoreans and foreign visitors are targets.

The use of unregistered taxis significantly increases the risk of becoming a victim of crime, including armed robbery and express kidnapping. Try to book a taxi through your hotel or by calling a known radio taxi service. If you are using an authorised taxi (yellow cab) in Quito and Guayaquil make sure it has the municipality registration number sticker displayed on the windscreen and doors; the orange license plates or the new white plates with an orange strip on the top and video cameras inside. Avoid hailing a taxi on the street. Larger supermarkets and airports have taxi ranks.

In mid 2013, the Ecuadorean National Transit Agency launched the ‘Secure Transport’ project throughout Ecuador. This includes the installation of security kits – video cameras, panic buttons and GPS – inside interstate buses and registered taxis. You should only use the yellow registered taxis, with the ‘transporte seguro’ logo, if a radio taxi isn’t available.

You can also order a secure taxi from a new free smartphone application ‘Easy Taxi’, available for Android and iPhone. A photo, the name of the taxi driver and the vehicle description will be sent to the customer. Read Full Story Here

Watch this this video from the British Embassy in Quito for more information and tips on transport safety:

SAFETY, HEALTH, SECURITY IN ECUADOR – THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ