A young bicycle taxi driver from Havana became a symbol of solidarity this Sunday after the story of his gesture towards the most vulnerable passengers went viral on Facebook: he charges them only what they can afford, regardless of the usual fare.
The story was told by Susana Angela Borges González in a that quickly circulated on social media.
Borges recounted that he got into the bicycle taxi in the morning heading towards the Línea tunnel, and that the first sign of what was to come was the driver's response when he asked if they were going that way: "I’m going wherever you’re going."
During the journey, an elderly man got on and asked how much his trip would cost. The young man's response was immediate: "Whatever you can, grandpa." The man, almost in tears, paid 100 pesos for a ride that other drivers charge up to 250 pesos.
Soon after, near 60th Street, a woman of humble appearance dressed in Yoruba attire stopped the bici-taxi.
Faced with the same question, he received the same answer. He ascended with difficulty, paid 150 pesos when he got off, thanked the young man, and blessed him, asking that there be many more people like him.
The driver charged the other passengers the equivalent of what other drivers had charged them previously for their respective routes.
At the end of the tour, Borges asked him for a photo. He explained that he knows many people don’t have money and that charging according to each person’s ability is, in his own words, "his way of helping." The author of the story never asked for his name.
Borges González clearly summarized it in his publication: "We live in a society where the elderly are discriminated against, they are excluded. An elderly person with an average pension in this country cannot afford to feed themselves, much less to get around. And that is Exclusion."
Finally, regarding the anonymous young man, he wrote: "For a people suffering as much as the Cuban people do today, multiplying behaviors like these would be wonderful."
The gesture occurs in a context of extreme dehumanization and of near-total collapse of public transport in Havana: the state passenger service fell by 93% between January and September 2025.
For example, people in Havana have come to wait up to seven hours for a bus and walk across the bay tunnel.
In light of the bus collapse, bicitaxis and electric tricycles have become essential alternatives for getting around Havana.
However, a user claimed that she spends almost 1,000 pesos daily when she has to cover long distances, which is a quarter of the current minimum pension in just one day.
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