A young bicycle taxi driver from Havana became a symbol of solidarity this Sunday after his story went viral on Facebook, showcasing his gesture with the most vulnerable passengers: charging them only what they can afford, regardless of the usual fare.
The story was told by Susana Angela Borges González in a that quickly went viral on social media.
Borges recounted that he took the bicitaxi in the morning heading towards the Línea tunnel, and the first sign of what was to come was the driver's response when he asked whether they were going that way: "I’m going wherever you go."
During the journey, an elderly man got on and asked how much his ride would cost. The young man's response was immediate: "Whatever you can afford, grandfather." The gentleman, almost in tears, paid 100 pesos for a trip that other drivers charge up to 250 pesos.
Shortly after, near 60th Street, a modest-looking woman dressed in Yoruba attire stopped the pedicab.
In response to the same question, he received the same answer. He climbed up with difficulty, paid 150 pesos as he got off, thanked the young man, and blessed him, asking that there would be many more like him.
To the rest of the passengers, the driver charged them the equivalent of what other drivers had charged for their respective journeys.
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 him his name.
Borges González summarized it clearly in his publication: "We live in a society where the elderly are discriminated against and excluded; an elderly person with an average pension in this country cannot afford to feed themselves, let alone transport themselves. And that is Exclusion."
Finally, regarding the anonymous young man, he wrote: "For a people enduring what the Cuban people are enduring 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 dropped by 93% between January and September 2025.
For example, residents of Havana have been known to wait as long as seven hours for a bus and cross the bay tunnel on foot.
In light of the bus collapse, bicitaxis and electric tricycles have become essential alternatives for getting around Havana.
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