Public Transportation

Well, sounds like you debated it yourself already, I agree ')

Nonchalant over its responsibilty

The government does not control transportation. The unions control transportation. Government control is collecting taxes and fees for vehicles. irate: It is nonchalant over its responsibilty to public safety, the result is a sea of junkers on wheels and chaos on the roads. It is selective regarding enforcement of laws of the road, usually detaining operators they perceive as having the funds to pay a fine or give them a gift, or groups they choose to harass.

Regards,

PJT

the president is the puta of sindicalistas de transporte. not only the government gets f**ked by the unions, it also has to politely fork out the money to those beloved pimps. dominican government pays huge sums to sindicalistas, subsidizing petrol. this is not likely to change. i have read the laughable article about projects quitting subsidies but this is stuff from wet dreams of diputados. cannot happen.

and as predicted, the government lubricated its collective a**hole yet again and will continue to let sindicalistas drill them:
El Gobierno mantendr? el subsidio a los choferes - DiarioLibre.com

Nobody but dv8 can put it so succinctly! Amen!


HB

I've heard way too many dominicans say conchos are "useful" and "beneficial" for the people. When you hear that, you immediately know this problem is still far from being solved.

what is useful and beneficial is properly functioning public transport with designated routes and stops. but dominicans who have never been abroad so not understand this strange, alien concept. so the dumb masses see current situation as the best there is, like voltaire callejero. and the government needs to keep the votes happy so they maintain status quo.

what is really needed here is a public execution of juan hubieres (i suggest ripping him apart by four of his own conchos) and every other sindicalista of transporte. and then politely asking new sindicalistas whether they support transport reform. they will.

Well here in the campo, u ll need a couple of generations to get rid of conchos. In between full time conchos ( heaps) and the local boy who conchando occasionly, u ll need to create loads of jobs......... and yes they are useful: accesible even to poorer people, convinient too to the richer ( oops no more cigarettes, live in the neck of the woods, day is fading, roads are full of holes and sleeping cows, its raining, wife is horny and the living dead ks on tv.... lets take the bike 5ks down the road, no let me think, I ll call marino the motoconcho and for 25 pesos plus 10 tip, bobs ure uncle)

Sorry on topic, I found that in town ( santiago for me mostly) in between bus lines ( the recycled us school buses ), guaguas, carro publicos ( the ones with the route number on windscreen), motoconchos and taxis, its not a bad network ( even if it seems chaotic).
For other travels, caribe tour, metro, guaguas, carropublicos.... it could be a lot worse.
I try not to use car much anymore exept for " holidays and treats"( my pickup drinks diesel like its going out of fashion and the price never seems to stop going up) , and I ve never been stuck ( but I do have time to trade).

The conchos union deals with the government have very little to do with public transportation. Those unions have a long and complicated history of dealings with the government. Their origin dates back to the Trujillo era when they were the foot soldiers of a vast information gathering network. Choferes supplied barrio leaders with ties to government functionaries with information on the comings and goings of everyday citizens. The information was traded with military and civil government people for influence and protection. Aspects of the system exist to this very day.

Today, Hubieres's power is based on the sheer numbers of choferes, and his ability to deliver them as voting bloc. In between election cycles, he has the power to disrupt the economy by declaring strikes or shutting down major transportation hubs at will. It is political suicide to publicly oppose the conchos. They will stop at nothing to maintain their right to flout motor vehicle safety and traffic laws and continue to operate virtually free of license fees or taxes. AMET agents will try to impose their authority from time to time but it is the same sort of theater you see on 'Perdona la hora.' Don't even get me started on their animalistic driving habits.

Importing oil, gas, etc for transportation [not electric energy generation] is what is kill GPD in many countries including DR.

Hard to resolve as it is a geopolitical-economic game.

A criss-cross railroad and trolley system for the whole country!

There wouldn't be the demand to justify a cross country rail system.

In the big cities i.e Santo Domingo with its generally flat terrain there should be a programme to make cycling more attractive - cycle lanes and dedicated routes. Cheap and would be an easy way to get round the city. Works well in many other places.

Conchos are not beneficial nor useful, and I'll tell you why.
Conchos are not beneficial because they charge as much if not more than guaguas (not talking about OMSA here, just regular private guaguas), however they provide a much poorer service. Therefore, the users are actually being ripped off, being charged the equivalent to US$ 0.60 to ride on the back seat of a compact car with three other passengers under DR's blistering sun. That is hardly a benefit. I'm not saying guaguas are less crowded but at least they were built for that purpose.
Conchos are not useful because of too many reasons, among others:
- They create a lot of traffic, making it worse for everyone, included concho users trying to get to work or school. A guagua can fit the equivalent to 6 or 7 conchos.
- They cause a lot of accidents due to their wreckless driving
- They consume the cooking gas the government subsidizes so poor families can cook. And still they want to base their fees on gasoline prices.
- They create chaos on every street or avenue, traffic jams that force everyone to use much more fuel than the country can afford.
- They are a real danger. Cars with loose wheels, bald tires, faulty breaks and no lights at night.
- Many of them are accomplices, or downright responsible for robberies to passengers.

The excuse that they create loads of jobs is weak, as those drivers are basically finding (as always) the easy way out. Because trying to learn any useful skill is obviously out of the question for them. If Conchos were banned, they would be forced to do some actually productive work. Yes, some of them will take off their mask and become full-time thieves, but it's either that or perpetuating this nonsense. Being a poor country is not an excuse either. Many countries in LA poorer that DR don't have Conchos, but some way of organized public transportation systems.

London_Calling said:

There wouldn't be the demand to justify a cross country rail system.

In the big cities i.e Santo Domingo with its generally flat terrain there should be a programme to make cycling more attractive - cycle lanes and dedicated routes. Cheap and would be an easy way to get round the city. Works well in many other places.

Click to expand...

and they can call the bike lanes "The Kill Zone"