Chiva bus

Chiva Bus
Overview
Also called	Escalera Bus (Ladder Bus)
Production	First modification 1922
Designer	Luciano Restrepo, Roberto Tisnes
Body and chassis
Class	Bus
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout
Platform	Blue Bird, Dodge, Ford, among others
Powertrain
Engine	Diesel
Transmission	Manual transmission

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A chiva (Spanish for goat) or escalera (Spanish for ladder and stairs) is an artisan rustic bus used in rural Colombia and Ecuador. Chivas are adapted to rural public transport, especially considering the mountainous geography of the Andean region of these countries.

The buses are varied and characterized by being painted colorfully (usually with the yellow, blue, and red colors of the flags of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador) with local arabesques and figures. Most have a ladder to the rack on the roof which is also used for carrying people, livestock and merchandise.^[1]

They are built upon a bus chassis with a modified body made out either metal or wood. Seats are benchlike, made out of wood and with doors instead of windows. The owner or driver usually gives the vehicle a unique nickname.^[1]

In Panama, the term Chiva is used to describe a Toyota Coaster or another similar bus operating in a manner similar to a Chicken bus. Unlike Chicken buses, Chivas are often painted white.