Electric tricycles will transport up to 5,000 people a day in Santiago de Cuba, according to forecasts.

It is estimated that about 5,000 passengers will be transported daily by the 20 new electric tricycles that began operating in Santiago de Cuba, according to the official press.

The local channel Tele Turquino published a report on YouTube highlighting the initiative, stating that it is "aimed at improving transportation" in Santiago de Cuba, and announced that the cost of the service will be 10 pesos.

"It will benefit the rearrangement of other routes, as well as other transportation services," the official spokesperson also emphasized.

A manager from the transportation sector indicated that the first phase includes the addition of 20 of these electric tricycles, which he explained have a range of over 200 kilometers.

However, the main characteristic of the Santiago territory is the presence of steep hills, which limits the use of this mode of transport to the few flatter areas, such as the Alameda area. For this reason, its use will not be extensive nor will it benefit the entire population.

Recently, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, first secretary of the PCC in Santiago de Cuba, defended the tricycle service on Facebook, presenting it as a viable alternative in the face of the transportation crisis: “This service has great popular acceptance in several provinces. Here we are already working on defining the routes.”

This Sunday, 20 electric tricycles also started service in Guantánamo, which have the particularity that customers will be able to pay digitally.

This is the first time in the country that users can pay for a public transportation service through an electronic transfer.

According to Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the minister of the sector, explained on Facebook, QR codes have been enabled for electronic payment in each vehicle, although the option for cash payment will remain for those who prefer it.

The tricycles that circulate in various provinces are owned by the Taxis-Cuba Company and are assembled in the national territory from components imported from China.

Although the regime promotes this initiative as a relief measure in the face of the current transportation crisis, the reality is that the country is experiencing one of the worst moments in recent years regarding public transportation, with barely half the vehicles that were in operation five years ago.