Cuenca celebrates third day of partial suspension of public transport service

Cuenca

For the third consecutive day, the majority of urban buses in the city did not circulate on the morning of Thursday 28 in Cuenca.

The Chamber of Transportation of Cuenca made this decision arguing that the local municipality does not give way to a possible increase in the fare of the passage. Although the suspension of a public service is considered a crime, there are still no sanctions, as the authorities are following due process.

User annoyance

The citizen Yolanda Gallegos usually uses about five buses a day, which means spending $ 1.50, because the ticket costs 30 cents. But since the urban bus units did not go to work, he had no alternative but to take a taxi. For a race near her home, located in the El Tejar sector, they charged her $ 3.50, which, according to her, strongly altered her budget due to the expense of a single transfer.

Due to the measure of the carriers, the woman considered that sanctions should be issued.

Justification

The president of the Chamber of Transportation of Cuenca, Manolo Solís, said that they are not paralyzing or suspending the service, but that they are “rationalizing the units”, in view of the fact that the income received from the tickets in relation to the operating expenses and even the rise in fuels. He argued that the Municipality does not give way to a rate study that allows them to raise the rate by $ 0.15, since from their point of view they have met all the requirements imposed by the authorities for that.

Based on this, they suspended the service on Tuesday 26, from 06:00 to 09:00; While on Wednesday the 27th and this Thursday the 28th, from 06:00 to 12:00.

The secretary of Mobility of the Cuenca municipality, Boris Palacios, considered that there is no such rationalization, because “it is clear that they are not providing the service”, so that the Mobility Company (EMOV) initiated the administrative processes that could lead to a reprimand, sanction or even withdrawal of the operating permit for the units.

Although his absence on the streets has been notorious, Palacios said that there are still no sanctions or notifications of offenders, because an internal administrative process is being followed that consists of verifying urban buses that did not go to work. In total, in Cuenca there are 475 urban buses grouped into seven companies.

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The only line that the carriers maintained was the 100, considered as a competition with the tram (public service), because it has a similar route and destinations. That seems to the mayor of the city, Pedro Palacios, something “suspicious.” What he did make clear is that for now the passage will not go up; but in addition to the internal processes of possible sanction, Palacios filed a complaint with the Azuay Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday night against the carriers, because “the stoppage is not justified in any way.”

In Cuenca, public transport, except for the tram, is run by private groups, so this new impasse takes up the debate on a potential municipalization of this service. However, the Secretary of Mobility admitted that this is not a simple issue, but in any case consultancies are being developed and non-reimbursable resources are being managed to move towards there and analyze the replacement with electric units.

Until authorities and carriers solve their problems, users like Yolanda Gallegos keep looking for alternatives to get to their destinations. The temporary solution that the Municipality has given is to provide this service on the buses of the Mobility Company, in addition to the support of taxis, mixed transporters and school vans, so that they feel this absence as little as possible.

Representatives of the transport union and authorities agreed that they are open to dialogue. (I)