AREQUIPA, Peru – Starting Monday, September 16, the state fleet of 40 internal combustion motorcycles in Sancti Spíritus, also known as “the yellow ones,” will resume service on routes under the leasing system.
A report from the official newspaper Escambray Remember that leasing is a defined work modality for these means since their incorporation around a decade ago into public transportation and an exploitation scheme that has been dismantled in recent times.
Eliecer Chirino Borges, commercial specialist of the Taxis-Cuba Agency in Sancti Spíritus, the entity that leases the vehicles, reported that this service will be revived by establishing three round-trip routes, setting Serafín Sánchez Park as the pick-up point and exchange point, a traditional convergence zone within the city.
The established routes are: Park-Paediatric Hospital, passing through the South Polyclinic; Park-Intermunicipal Terminal, circulating along Avenida de los Mártires and the Central Highway, and Park-Military Unit, using the same road route.
According to Chirino Borges, this is a “flexible rearrangement” for motorcycles state leasedbecause the work on the route will be from Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 9:30 AM and in the afternoon, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
“Outside of these hours, the driver can continue to provide the service to where the client requests it, only within the city limits. The schedules and frequency of the routes depend on the availability of fuel for the motorcycles,” he explained.
The specialist also pointed out that the new work system defines organizing the motorcycles into four brigades, with 10 vehicles in each one; three depending on the routes, with a weekly rotation for each circuit, while the brigade that is free will work on repair needs or can provide service freely.
“The brigades will be rotated because not all routes are the same. passenger flow and we must find a way to ensure that all drivers have a level of revenue so that they can keep their motorcycles in good technical condition,” said Chirino Borges.
According to the agreement, they are rented equipment, with capacity for six passengers and the driver pays 100 percent of the motorcycle expenses and also pays for the fuel assigned to him.
The expert also reported that the established fare for this service is 10 pesos per passenger per kilometer; for example, on the Parque-Unidad Militar route, which is around 3 kilometers long, the passenger pays 30 pesos, even if they do not make the entire trip. The other two routes are in the range of 2 kilometers and are therefore 20 pesos per person.
When working on the route, the driver cannot leave it; however, when not on the route, he can move around the city, always respecting the fare of 10 pesos per passenger/kilometer, he emphasized.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Transport in CubaEduardo Rodríguez Dávila, acknowledged some of the “harsh criticism” of the population towards the form of management that he leases vehicles state-owned companies to private companies, including the “yellow” companies from Sancti Spiritus.
Under this modality, the owner recalls in a Facebook postgazelles (popularly known as gazelles), electric tricycles, buses and taxis also provide services. Each case has its specificities.
The measure “has allowed a group of buses that had been paralyzed to start up, but the reality is that it has brought with it disorganization, irregular access to fuel and other materials, lack of discipline and, in many cases, a deregulation of prices,” said the minister.
