The red devil school buses are used much like the Caribbean's mini vans and NY's dollar vans - think cheap transportation. More like the dollar vans, most lack insurance and travelers to Panama are warned not to take them as they can get overcrowded and may be unsafe. I learned years ago that I do not like being packed into a vehicle like a sardine under any circumstance and if it's only going to cost me a little more, I'll take a taxi or the perhaps less convenient public transportation run by the government. I was fascinated by the personalized artwork on the buses and wish I had spent more time taking pictures of them.