The announcement of the metro mega-project has certainly stirred up debate on urban development. El Caribe newspaper reports that community leaders are baptizing such a project as a “Wall of Shame”. Alexis Pena (Coordinadora de Organizaciones Barriales Don Bosco), one of the community leaders, says that there are other challenges that are “cheaper and more necessary” than the proposed subway system. He mentions the need for a university extension on the eastern side of the Ozama River that would reduce the need to transfer an estimated 50,000 students every day. He says that with the money that will be invested in the metro system, the government could build three hundred (300) poly-technical schools.
University researcher Antinoe Fiallo suggests taking a look at the real needs of the various neighborhoods in Santo Domingo and decentralizing all of the citizen service agencies. “What the citizens of the capitol need is not rapid transit to their places of work, but rather places of work closer to their homes.” The same thing, according to Fiallo, could be said for a lot of government services that require movement within the city.
Jorge Cela told reporters that fares for the Metro will be three times the current bus fares. Cela said that even in the industrialized nations, subsidized subway fares were over a dollar. He speculates whether in three or four years salaries will have increased to the level that will permit the poor to travel on the subway.
Transportation syndicate leader Ramon Perez Figuereo also doubts that the numbers being quoted by project promoter Diandino Pena are transparent. Agreeing with Cela, Perez Figuereo said that “there is no way that the fare of the Metro will be RD$5.00; the price of a fare will be between RD$30 and RD$40 pesos, because not even the Metropolitan Bus Service (OMSA) charges that ridiculous sum (RD$5.00) and they receive a subsidy of RD$30 million.”