There is fuel for only 60% of the capital’s microtaxis, says the Minister of Transport
14ymedio, Havana, 5 December 2024 — The catastrophic energy situation, which in the early hours of Wednesday caused the third collapse of the national electricity system in less than two months, is once again seriously affecting transport. Havana now has a limit of 9,800 liters of diesel per day for the service of the microtaxis, known as “gazelles.” As recognized by the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, “this does not cover the demand for the service, nor is it enough to supply the entire fleet.”
The fuel allows service for only between 225 and 228 microtaxis, just over 60% of the 435 vehicles. Assigning only one is not enough on the longest routes of between 24 and 26 kilometers, which affects the last laps,” the minister explains.
Out of the total number of vehicles, on the other hand, there are “80 that are paralyzed in the long term,” the official also reported. And more: “an average” of between 40 and 45 gazelles break down and don’t complete the maintenance service “to solve the different problems.” That is, only about 300 vehicles are operating regularly.
There are other problems such as “detachment of the side doors, broken windows and seats” and “social indisciplines”
“Gazelle minibuses are in intense overexploitation in their two work systems (day and night),” says Rodríguez Dávila, who summarized the 23 routes in more than 600,000 kilometers in the capital.
In addition to the lack of fuel and the “technical shutdowns in the workshop and eventualities due to lack of parts, pieces and accessories,” there are other problems such as “detachment of the side doors, breakage of windows and seats” and “social indisciplines.” These do not allude only to travelers who don’t pay for the ticket – which has a cost of 5 pesos – but also to “public altercations or manifestations of aggression to drivers.”
To alleviate the problems, the company in charge of the service, Metrotaxis, has implemented a series of measures listed by Rodríguez Dávila, although it is not clear that they are effective. For example, the “redistribution by routes for the supply of fuel at bus terminals, with six points in different locations in the city, as well as the extension of the supply hours until two in the morning,” for “greater effectiveness and better use of fuel.”
Controls have also increased, he says, which have made it possible to discover “undue charges, route diversions, route openings and closings outside the established hours, non-compliance with trips and overstay in the taxi stands.” Since September, “199 violations have been detected,” which have led to 66 fines of between 1,250 and 3,750 pesos each, in addition to “10 closures of definitive leases and four temporary lease closures, 34 warning acts, 79 private warnings, three public warnings and three stimulation discounts.”
Nothing new under the sun, otherwise. The lack of diesel has only aggravated a service that was implemented with great success five years ago but that has been in frank decline for months. So much so that the gazelles are being replaced by private vehicles, increasingly present in the streets of Havana.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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