Havana: Ten times less buses than before

In 1958 HavanaWith a population of 1.5 million, there were 2,400 Buses. As of January 2022, 400 buses are in service for 2.2 million Habaneros.

Statistics like this are annoying Raul Castro And the military-civilian mob that usurps power, and they amaze Cubans who are not even 67 or 70 today.

They annoy Castro leaders because they feel too much for them. They have no way of denying such great evidence of the catastrophe caused by communism on the island. They also amaze those who do not comb gray hair, because Cuba “found or prevented them from gaining what they had lost since liberation. Capitalist exploitation.”

The regime forbids them to publish anything. I have never seen or can not see people in the past who have spoken so much Granma, Rebellious youth, Cubpat, Workers, Etc. By pacifying them, the ruling leadership takes advantage of unprecedented longevity. Castroism Citizens lose touch with the bourgeois past. They did not live it.

It makes stories easier along the way. Castro speaks with ridiculous data compared to the past, which is not known to many as the “achievements of the revolution” of the elite. So refresh the historical memory and remove the official lies.

There are 700,000 Havans and 2,000 fewer buses than there were in 1958.

In front Castroism Havana It is one of the most beautiful, modern and “magical” cities in the world. It is also one of the best bus transportation services in the world, with one bus for every 625 people. Today there is a bus for 5,500 Havans, and that bus crashes miserably.

Using the 1958 bus-Hapanero ratio today, the city should have 3,500 buses operating, but only 400, 11% of the buses in circulation 64 years ago. Almost ten times less! In other words, with more than 700,000 Havans, there are 2,000 fewer buses in the densely populated city than there were in the mid-20th century. And there were not 3,100 buses to provide the same service of that period.

Such a shortage of buses can only be justified if a railroad system is built, whether underground or not, as is the case in major cities in Latin America. There is no “revolution” Havana I would have kept it decades ago.

But no buses, no metro. Of the 878 buses in the capital, only 435 are operating, Leandro Mendes, director of transport in Havana, said a few days ago. But then his deputy Henry Altama clarified Rebellious youth They were “registered”, but in fact only 400 buses were in service in mid-December. Also, if Altama does not really increase the number of people who work.

From pioneers in urban transportation to the beggar homeless

We are talking about a strong city Inheritance Inside Urban transport. Havana In 1900, it was one of the first cities in the world to have electric trams, before many cities in Europe (including Madrid) and most Latin American cities.

It was already the second largest city in Latin America in 1862 after Mexico City (1858) with horse-drawn trams. More inside Havana The first automobile was distributed throughout Latin America in 1900. Prior to this, in 1837, it was the first city in Latin America with passenger and freight trains and the third largest city in the world (Havana-Queens, then Beijing).

Until March 1959, when Fidel Castro They were nationalized by two private urban bus companies operating in the capital: 1) Cooperativa de Omnibus Aliados (COA), owned by small owners who bought one or two buses and placed them on selected routes; And 2) modern buses (AMSA).

The COA had 1,600 General Motors buses, the same number in service in the United States. Also the AMSA 800 had British Leyland buses, popularly known as “nurses” because of their white color.

Add to this the fact that, according to official data, the vast majority of the nearly 144,000 automobiles that were in Cuba in 1958 were in circulation. Havana, Including 3,500 taxis, have not been used for 65 years or ruined without enough fuel like today’s almond trees, the number of which is unknown.

Of course, he isTo the public transport crisis This is due to the “siege” and, according to Mendes, fractures caused by a lack of spare parts, tires, batteries, punch and a lack of materials needed to catch the oil filters. He added that of the 1.2 million daily passengers three or four years ago (until Venezuelan subsidies fell), there are now 500,000 passengers. Less than half.

But instead of privatizing urban transport, the dictatorship is asking for foreign manual. The last request was made to Japan, which will arrive soon Havana 84 Japanese buses donated. The number of abducted Havans will increase to 592,000 daily. Government emergencies do not concern the fate of the other 608,000 Havans in the 1.2 million mentioned, or the fate of the other million who make up the capital’s total population.

Prior to 1959, the COA and AMSA provided the most efficient service, with a frequency of four to nine minutes between one bus and the next during peak hours. Just look at the photos and pictures of that time when there were always so many buses on the streets.

Today MITRANS experts say the capital needs 20 different routes with 700 buses and 30 buses each to provide good service. Wrong, 3,500 and less than 40 ways required. But according to Altama, there are only a handful of buses on 16 routes, with only one car in service. The average frequency is between 40 minutes and two hours between one and the other. Or it will never happen.

In 1958, can we imagine waiting 40 minutes or two for a bus at Infanta and San Lazaro, La Virgin del Camino or Galliano and San Rafael? How big would the street fight have been?

The government spent hundreds of millions of dollars, first from the Kremlin and then from Venezuela, probably importing buses from Czechoslovakia (Skoda), Great Britain (Leland), Hungary (Icarus), Japan (Hino), and China. (Yudong), Russia (Peace).

But because they are not private property and do not belong to anyone, those vehicles do not last long, and there is a lack of maintenance, spare parts, disorder, irregularities, potholes in the streets, excessive commuters, miserable wages, and the desire to work for workers in socialism. The famous inventions of the mad “camels” were made by hand, without ventilation. Passengers were suffocated by the intense heat.

“New men” attack buses and rob passengers

Above all, today, independent reports suggest that groups of “new men” are attacking buses and looting passengers. In Parque de la Fraternidad, two civilians with guns boarded a bus on the A-5 route, closed the doors and stole all the people’s money and valuables.

Also in La Cuevita (San Miguel del Padrón) they robbed a bus and took money and cell phones from all the passengers. Also, a bus driver was beaten and kicked in the tree and left naked on the street. Never been inside Havana Armed attacks on pre-Castro buses to rob all passengers.

Anyway, as things stand, the carriages of the time of Arango and Barrino or Felix Varela, the Volandas and the Quitrain will return to the Havana mainland. But very primitive and rugged workmanship, and weapons and sticks with their coaches. Thanks Fiddle and Roll!