🇦🇷 Buenos Aires · Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Buenos Aires
One SUBE card covers everything, and registering it takes about 31% off a Subte trip. Buses are priced by distance, so you say where you are going before you tap.
The thing people get wrongRegister the SUBE card in your own name as soon as your DNI exists, because registration is done against a valid DNI. An unregistered card pays ARS 2,541.10 for a Subte trip where a registered one pays ARS 1,753, about 31% less; the 20%, 30% and 40% frequency discounts after 20, 30 and 40 monthly trips then apply on top. You may hold more than one card, but only one can be the SUBE principal that carries a social benefit.
Buy the card, then register it
SUBE is the payment system for buses, the subte, trains, metrobuses, trolleybuses and ferries across 61 localities. Buy a card over the counter at a Punto SUBE, or order one online: collection at a SUBE Centro de Atención carries no delivery charge, while a post-office branch or your own door adds one, and the current card and delivery prices are shown in the official purchase flow before you pay. Registering it is the single biggest saving available on transport here, and it is done against a valid DNI, in person, online, in the app or on the helpline. Top up through the SUBE app on an Android phone with NFC, on board buses with Carga a Bordo, at terminals, or at a Punto SUBE shop.
- Maximum balance ARS 40,000, and the balance does not expire.
- An emergency negative balance of ARS -1,200 works on buses, trains, the subte and at ferry ticket offices.
- In person at Estación Retiro, Av. Dr. José María Ramos Mejía 1430, and Estación Constitución, Av. Brasil 1128, Monday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00.
- 0800-777-SUBE (7823), 24 hours: option 1 to cancel a lost or stolen card, option 3 for balance and password.
The Subte is flat, the bus is not
This is how zones work here. A subte trip is a flat fare whatever the distance, but a city bus is priced in four distance sections of 0 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 12 and 12 to 27 kilometres, so you tell the driver where you are going before you tap and the machine charges the right section. Getting that wrong is the classic newcomer mistake. Use the city's own journey planner, Cómo Llego, at mapa.buenosaires.gob.ar/comollego, rather than guessing the section.
- September 2026 city bus fares by section: ARS 887.99, ARS 986.70, ARS 1,062.70 and ARS 1,138.77.
- Express services are capped at ARS 1,109.99, ARS 1,233.38, ARS 1,328.38 and ARS 1,423.46 for the same sections.
- Contactless multipago payment is being piloted on city lines. During the pilot a single flat fare applies regardless of distance: the 3 to 6 km band for city buses, and the 0 to 3 km band for the mini MUBE electric minibuses.
- Premetro, travelled without a combination, costs ARS 613.55 registered and ARS 975.54 unregistered.
Connections are discounted, with two exceptions
RED SUBE applies automatic discounts to connecting journeys within the metropolitan area: 50% off the second trip and 75% from the third onwards, inside a 120-minute window. It covers national-jurisdiction buses and trains, CABA buses, the Subte and the Premetro. Two exclusions matter in practice. A Provincia de Buenos Aires bus gets no discount when it is the second leg, and the Subte gets no discount when it follows a train.
- Subte lines A, B, C, D, E and H, plus the Premetro.
- Suburban rail: Sarmiento, Roca, Mitre, San Martín, Belgrano Sur, Belgrano Norte, Urquiza and the Tren de la Costa.
- You get up to five discounted connections inside the two hours, with at least two minutes between them, and you must use the same means of payment throughout.
Every peso fare you read is about to change
After a public hearing on 20 January 2026 the city adopted, for twelve months, a monthly bus fare increase of 2% plus the INDEC consumer price index from two months earlier, and July's index of 2.11% produced the September 2026 table. Fares are reset every month by resolution, so treat any peso figure as a shape rather than a price. The city sets fares only for the 27 bus lines whose routes run entirely inside CABA and which were transferred to it from national jurisdiction. Every other line you ride is national or provincial, and priced elsewhere.
- City-jurisdiction lines: 4, 7, 12, 25, 26, 34, 39, 42, 44, 47, 50, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 76, 84, 102, 106, 107, 108, 109, 115, 118, 132 and 151.
Bikes, which you can set up on day one
EcoBici, the city bike-share, is operated by Tembici and runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You register through the BA Ecobici by Tembici app with a credit or debit card, or in person by appointment at the Tembici offices in Paternal, which makes it one of the few things you can arrange before any of the paperwork exists. It is free for residents of the country on weekdays, up to four rides of 30 minutes each; weekends, longer rides and foreign visitors need one of the paid passes, chosen in the app. Bicycles may also be carried on the Subte, but only on lines A, B, D, E and H and only outside the weekday peaks, so check the window before you plan a bike-and-subte commute.
- Tembici offices: Cucha Cucha 2756, Paternal, by appointment.
- Bikes on the Subte: on a weekday from the start of service to 08:00, from 10:00 to 16:00 and from 19:00 to close; at weekends and on holidays without restriction. First and last carriage only, two per carriage, and stairs rather than escalators or lifts.
- Ignore the city's Ecobici para turistas page, which still tells visitors the service is free and describes registering with a scanned ID. The registration page on the same site requires a card in the app, and visitors need a tourist pass. Take current pricing from the app.
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