A group of people was stranded today at 3:30 am in El Curita park when the bus driver covering the P-7 route from the Cotorro municipality terminal decided to charge a fee of 100 pesos for the fare instead of the established price.
According to the citizen complaint published in the group Facebook Transportación Habana TH, the driver pointed out bluntly that only those who agreed to pay the amount would be allowed to board, leaving several passengers behind, including elderly individuals who were left stranded in the early hours of the morning without any transportation alternative.
One of the affected individuals, a woman traveling for family reasons, described the situation as "insulting and inhumane," and she recalled that this is a government service that is required to adhere to official rates.
The situation exposes the corruption and abuse among some urban transport workers in the Cuban capital, where users not only face endless waits and a shortage of buses but also illegal practices by drivers who turn a public service into a personal business, with no oversight or immediate response from the authorities.
At the end of September 2024, a Cuban woman expressed her outrage on social media over what she described as abuse by a driver, who charged her 1,000 pesos to transport her from Alamar to Matanzas, using a state vehicle and gasoline supplied by the government.
The state of transportation in Cuba continues to deteriorate, and this type of complaint reflects the growing discontent among citizens who depend on state transportation, which every day leaves more people at a disadvantage.
In March, the government acknowledged the collapse of the national public transport system, which significantly affects the population that endures long waits, overcrowded journeys, and canceled routes due to a lack of resources.
Nationally, more than half of the provincial routes were halted last year due to a lack of fuel and spare parts. This situation has led many Cubans to rely on alternative modes of transportation, such as electric bicycles, for their daily commutes.
In Havana, for instance, the public transportation crisis has reached a critical point for years, with canceled routes, vehicles out of service and an increasingly frustrated population facing long waits and overcrowded means of transportation, due to the lack of concrete solutions.
Also in the early hours of this Sunday, a public transportation bus in Havana was the target of a vandalistic attack, when unknown individuals threw stones at the vehicle while it was on its route.
According to the report, the incident occurred at 12:55 AM on Boyeros Avenue, near the concrete plant and the Sports City.
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