Friday, November 27, 2009

Dismiss AMA, Give the Buses to Cooperative Groups


After having a lot of turkey and stuffing these past few days I need to make a rant. I have been so busy these last few weeks that it is insane. To top things off I went to office today to get some dues completed but got screwed up with the bus...after making such good time walking to the Bayamon station. Waiting for that C 30 bus really got me steaming. I am so pissed I am not even going to bother to write in Spanish. So let's get down to business:
Subject 1 :
AMA should be dismantled, bus routes given to Locally Owned Cooperatives
I have discussed the situation with the Puerto Rico's Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA) before. Those articles are here:
The problem is not the routes, is not the buses, is not even the drivers. The problem is that there are too many routes, and these routes have been increased further by increasing transfer points. The idea was to have more buses available in shorter paths, reducing idle time between buses. However, our shitty administrations, both red and blue always manage to screw plans up and instead of reducing the bus intervals have actually increased the idle times creating the following situation:

1.5 hours waiting for a C 30 bus to take from the Martinez Nadal station to San Patricio is plain wrong.
1 - 2 hours waiting for a B-4 bus to take you to Rio Piedras is criminal.
2 hours waiting for the Metrobus II to pick you up is abusive.
Who the hell can use this unreliable bus system before having the file filled with tardiness reports. After all the bus being late is not an excuse the second or third time around. Something needs to be done because the situation is worse every passing day. Either we go private and have the excellent service Metrobus I and Tren Urbano have or dismantle AMA and give the bus routes to Cooperativas that can manage the routes much more efficiently, even if the fare is larger. At least give more access to small pisicorres to the areas.
Fortu/no has announced a reduction in fares for the Tren Urbano to increase rides. That will only worsen the situation. Fix the AMA problem and people will use the service. Right now only the poor or those that have no other choice use the system. Let's go green and get people using the public transportation system.
Blogalaxia Tags

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...