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The state transportation system in Camagüey is in total collapse, as the daily ridership has dropped from 350,000 passengers under normal conditions to just 15,000, a reduction of nearly 95.7%, acknowledged Miguel Arias Vázquez, delegate of the Ministry of Transportation in the province, on Thursday.
The official attributed the decline mainly to the drastic fuel shortage, although he warned that it is not the only factor, as the lack of tires, batteries, parts, and components further exacerbates the inability to keep the fleet operational, highlighted the official newspaper Adelante.
As a temporary measure, in recent months, 15 electric tricycles and 10 minibuses from the Chinese brand Fotón have arrived in the province, assigned to the main corridors of the city with a priority during the morning hours.
The executive acknowledged that these additions are clearly insufficient, as the buses only complete one route in the morning and another in the afternoon, and not on all the established routes.
The transport links between the provincial capital and the other municipalities are completely paralyzed. The only exception is on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when Medibus vehicles operate to ensure the transportation of patients to the main hospitals in Camagüey.
The void left by the State is being filled by private transporters, who set fares that the delegate described as "extremely harmful" to the public.
Arias was explicit in stating that "the value remains at 50 pesos for each official segment, and any excess above that value is a violation."
However, irregular charges persist. Authorities have seized between 20 and 30 tricycles for operating illegally and identified a particularly serious offense: drivers who are operating without a driver's license. Of the 16 active piqueras in the city, only four have the approval of Traffic Engineering.
Amid the disaster, the regime is planning to bring in 10 additional electric tricycles to ensure the transportation of more than 250 patients undergoing hemodialysis in Camagüey, although the provincial Delegate did not specify a concrete date for this delivery.
The collapse in Camagüey is not an isolated phenomenon but rather the local manifestation of an unprecedented national transportation crisis. Cuba stopped receiving imported oil from Venezuela and Mexico between December 2025 and April 2026.
Since June 18, the Ministry of Transport has implemented the most severe cuts to date, with interprovincial buses reduced to three departures a week, trains to the east operating with a frequency of every 16 days, and the elimination of the open sale of tickets, replaced by provincial allocations based on priority criteria such as medical appointments or the death of a family member.
Nationwide, state passenger transport experienced a 93% decline between January and September 2025, according to data from the government itself. In Ciego de Ávila, by March 2026, only two out of 135 bus routes were in operation.
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