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HAVANA, August 19 (Juan Carlos Linares, Cuba-Verdad / www.cubanet.org) -
Officials of the Havana Urban Bus Service Company are contemplating reducing the
frequency of service to morning and afternoon rush hours and scattered service
in between, according to a knowledgeable source within the company who asked not
to be identified for fear of reprisals.
The project under study defines rush hours as those between 5 and 10 in the
morning and between 3 and 8 in the evening; the plan calls for regular service
in those time blocks. At other hours, however, service would be extended to one
bus an hour or longer, and in some cases, curtailed altogether.
"It will be chaotic," said the source.
Very few Havana residents have access to private vehicles, many of which are
over fifty years old. Nevertheless, those old cars keep their value; the going
price for a 1956 Ford in running condition is 5,000 dollars, even though it may
be running with parts adapted from Soviet-era cars or tractors, or even with
parts made from scratch by resourceful Cuban mechanics.
New cars are available in Cuba, but the government generally forbids Cubans
from buying them. Only those officials with authorization from their place of
employment can buy one, and then only after showing where they obtained the
money.
Versión
original en español
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