HOLGUÍN, Cuba. – “Transportation is terrible. Now I go to the Alcides Pino neighborhood to visit my bedridden sister and my sick son-in-law. I go all the time to help them, and there are no buses; that’s why I go in a Coquito [medio de transporte local más caro] “They charge me 300 pesos,” complains Holguin resident Loraine Almira.
The transportation crisis in Cuba It is shown not only in alarming numbersbut also in the daily difficulties of its citizens. The recent 12.2% drop in the use of state buses, with a 29.6% reduction in journeys, illustrates a clear deterioration in the system.
On the other hand, the disorder at the stops, the lack of reliable schedules and the crowding of passengers create a chaotic environment in which the competition to ride the bus becomes a battle.
The impact of this crisis is not limited to numbers. Lorenzo Acosta, who lives in Damián, a small town 10 kilometers from the city of Holguín, faces a daily challenge: to get to his workplace, he spends approximately 400 pesos a day. His trip is divided into several sections: “From El Quijote Park to the town of Coco I pay for a vending machine.” [taxi] “They charge me 100 pesos. From the Coco crossing to the Ceiba crossing, 50 pesos, and from the Ceiba crossing to Damián, another 50. It’s 200 there and 200 here, which totals 400 pesos, and sometimes I spend more,” he explains.
The most recent report from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) exposes a worrying reality: during the first half of 2024 and compared to the same period of the previous year, the total number of people transported fell from 510.1 million to 448 million.
Greisy Lam, stuck at a congested bus stop at 5pm, sees no light at the end of the tunnel. “That’s nothing, we still have to adapt,” she says, resigned. “This time is bad,” she adds.
Eusebio Rodríguez, who is waiting at the bus stop on Aguilera Street to go home to the Pedro Díaz Coello neighborhood, describes the chaos that prevails: “With this instability in transportation, no one can plan their time because the buses don’t have a schedule and they come whenever they feel like it.”
For his part, another Holguin resident, William Santiesteban, observes how the lack of order turns the queues into a battle to get on the bus. “Before, when there was culture, people asked to be the last in line, but good manners have been lost and nobody asks to be the last because people don’t queue anymore. When it comes time to get on the bus, a mess forms and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been waiting a long time or if you’ve just arrived, this is pure savagery,” he complains.
This lack of civility and the resulting disorder facilitate the actions of pickpockets, who take advantage of the chaos to steal. “You get into the mess and they take your wallet, it’s the law of the jungle here,” adds Santiesteban.
And that’s not all: the chaos at bus stops has particularly harsh consequences for people with disabilities. The long wait and the inability to get on the bus affect more than just those who face additional physical barriers in an already anarchic landscape.
“I am visually impaired and no one considers me when it comes to getting on the bus,” says Holguin resident Alexander Castro. “People get in front of me and don’t let me get on, and I have to get out of the mess because they kill me in the hustle and bustle. Most of the time I don’t get on and I’ve been the first to arrive at the bus stop. I’ve been at the bus stop for three or four hours and I’ve arrived home at night,” he says.
