2024-05-02 13:13:32
The implementation of exclusive lanes for buses in 170 blocks of the city generated changes in the urban transit. And in the week of the formal debut of this system, bus and taxi drivers took note of everything that the new modality implies, with criticism, praise and questions about its operation.
Jorge Berreta, vice president of the Association of Automotive Transport Businessmen of Tucumán (Aetat), recalled that the entity had submitted a proposal to the Municipality of San Miguel de Tucumán to establish a diagram of exclusive streets for buses (for example, Santiago del Estero) or , failing that, that the corridor for this service will have two lanes, instead of one. Although the Urban Mobility Secretariat, led by Benjamín Nieva, rejected Aetat’s idea, Berretta opted for caution, and even made a positive assessment of the criterion adopted by the municipality.
“It’s a little premature to make an evaluation. But I must highlight and value that the public transport service has improved, due to its fluidity and schedules can be met,” the businessman emphasized in dialogue with LA GACETA Central.
According to Berretta, a key factor in determining the success of the measure will be “commercial speed.” “That is what can guarantee us a little more punctuality,” she said.
In this sense, the Aetat manager highlighted the favorable impact of the important presence of municipal inspectors and agents on the streets, especially in the early hours of the morning. “That helped make this beneficial,” he said. He clarified that, although “there are some things to correct, as in any new system,” for now “it is not the time for criticism.” “We have to do the analysis in 10 or 15 days,” he stated. And he insisted that, in the first experience, the key was in the municipality’s operation. “When the intensive control was in place, the exclusive lane was very productive; When it loosens, exceptions begin, and we have to ensure that these exceptions do not exceed the norm, because if not, we are going to be complicated. But I want to emphasize that the initial evaluation was productive,” said Berretta.
Dialogue request
Julius Rodriguez, a representative of the National Federation of Taxi Drivers, also considered that these are times to evaluate the exclusive lanes. “We have to see how they work, sit down and talk with the people and move forward with the points that we still don’t know,” said the general secretary of the union in Tucumán.
In dialogue with LA GACETA, he stressed that his colleagues “are transmitting many doubts.” And he warned that there is concern about the issue of infractions. “We need to sit down and talk to see that thousands of fines are not issued to taxi drivers, that this does not fall on our colleagues. The streets are small, they do not have the dimensions they should have, and this makes traffic become heavy. The objective is for traffic to be fluid, and we are seeing that this was not the case for taxis, because we are mixed with private vehicles, and the passenger also becomes impatient,” said Rodríguez.
Carlos Pizarro, leader of the Tucumán Taxi Workers Union, expressed that his peers are “a little upset because they were not consulted” in the preliminary stage of the implementation of the exclusive lanes. “We are important players in public passenger transportation,” she remarked.
The union leader warned that one of the questions in the sector is “what is going to happen to the taxi stops” that were included within the yellow lines. “When the Plan (Integral Urban Mobility) is expanded, and the exclusive lanes are taken beyond the downtown, other stops will also be reached,” he indicated.
Pizarro explained that, although there was a meeting with the deputy director of Sutrappa, Carlos Hinojosa, there was no definitive solution to this issue. “We were told that they were going to relocate us. But we are having problems with the inspectors, because they take us out of the places they assigned us,” he explained.
The representative of the sector warned that San Miguel de Tucumán “is a small city for the number of vehicles that the microcenter has.” “The first day there were about 150 fines, according to the municipality. Also vehicle hijackings. Although there were awareness-raising tasks in the short term, it does not seem like a definitive solution to the reorganization of traffic, because they left us out of everything,” he indicated.
Pizarro pointed out that one of the factors that is not entirely practical is the issue of quick stops for boarding and alighting taxi users. “It is very difficult to lift the passenger, because there are the ‘turtles’ and, although the taxi drivers blink and stop for a few seconds, the buses begin to flash their lights and come at a high speed along the exclusive lane,” described. And he considered that these types of situations occur “because the municipality made the project under their own criteria, and they have not convened the parties involved, such as taxi owners and workers,” he said.
The union leader also focused on the fact that, although fines were recorded in the first days, the issue should be reviewed. “Many parked where they shouldn’t have. But many also turned into Santiago, on the corners of Muñecas and Junín, and the signs are not posted. So, in case a colleague comes to consult us about this problem, the union’s lawyers will work on this issue,” Pizarro said.