The director of the Metropolitan Office for Bus Services (OMSA), Hector Mojica, told El Caribe reporters that starting in 2020, there will be 24-hour bus service for passengers in Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago.
Omsa will be starting new routes in response to popular demand, such as the recently initiated Av. Abraham Lincoln. He said the routes are being incorporated based on studies carried out by the National Institute for Traffic and Ground Transport (Intrant).
Mojica explained that Omsa has 245 buses currently in service from 6am to 11pm. He said when he was named to the post there were 500 buses out of service, of which 300 were identified as repairable. He announced purchase process for 200 new units.
Mojica was appointed after a major corruption scandal was revealed at the OMSA and the former director, Manuel Rivas, is accused in the case. He is also suspect of participating in the murder of lawyer Yuniol Ramírez, who was investigating corruption at OMSA.
According to Mojica, Omsa buses transport around 500,000 passengers a week, and two million a month. Last year, overall 24 million passengers used Omsa buses. He said the goal is to transport 27 million passengers a year. Mojica said the fares will not be increased and soon new systems will be installed for electronic fare collecting. The main routes in Greater Santo Domingo are: Av. 27 de Febrero (from the Hipódromo to Km 9 on Duarte Highway), Corridor Los Ríos; Corridor Juan Bosch and Charles de Gaulle. These routes serve as feeders to the Santo Domingo metro and skylift.
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El Caribe
1 October 2018
