Some media reports show long lines of people waiting to board public transport. Others, such as El Nacional, say there were few passengers on the first day of the resuming of the remaining private transport services, Wednesday, 3 June 2020.
The large private transporter, Fenatrano resumed their operation on the 27 de Febrero route.
The bus stop of the National Confederation of Transport Organizations (Conatra), located at kilometer 9 of the Duarte highway, which transports passengers to the northern region, was empty. Conatra president Antonio Marte is demanding from the government about $17 billion to try to recover some of the money that the drivers of that union stopped receiving after the lockdown order. Marte says he is leaving up to the individual operators to decide whether they are going to go back to work or not. He argued that the new guidelines impede the units to turn a profit.
The media reported that technicians from the Department of Urban Public Transportation of the National Institute of Traffic and Land Transportation (Intrant) were inspecting the bus stops to determine if the carriers were complying with the new coronavirus health guidelines.
On 3 June 2020, at their southern stop on Avenida Duarte with 27 de Febrero, units affiliated to the National Union of Transporters and Allies (Unatrafin) had not resumed operation. Reportedly, the drivers of that transport association were waiting for the final clearance from Unatrafin directors. That station also looked deserted, due to the lack of passengers.
In the same situation was the Sichoem stop in the National District, from where people headed to La Romana leave. The Sichoem operation is scheduled to resume this coming Monday, 8 June 2020.
As reported, the Association of Public Transport Buses of La Altagracia Province (APTPRA) resumed operations today but with few passengers and few buses. The Higuey and Punta. Cana area is affected by the shutdown of hotels in the area. In the government economic reopening plan, hotels have been left for the last phase, with reopening scheduled for 1 July 2020, subject to final government approval.
The media reported that Caribe Tours is operating but with few passengers. The 30-passenger minibuses will carry a maximum of 18 people, including the driver, and the 15-passenger minibuses will carry a maximum of 9 people, also including the driver. The buses were leaving with half of the passengers permitted by the health restrictions.
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Hoy
El Nacional
N Digital
4 June 2020