INCENTIVE * Cuba: Letting drivers rent buses, make money
"This is only the beginning. The state can't do everything, and they are seeing if this system gives results" said one driver
Havana,Cuba -Reuters (USA), by Rosa Tania Valdes & Jeff Franks & Doina Chiacu -May 17, 2010: -- The Cuban government has begun renting its smaller city buses in Havana to the bus drivers in another minor move under President Raul Castro to ease the state's hand in Cuba's socialist economy... The programme, launched several months ago and still not announced by the government, appears to be part of Castro's drive to improve the communist island's troubled economy by giving more incentive for Cubans to work harder... Improving public transportation is one of the major challenges facing Raul Castro, who replaced ailing older brother Fidel Castro as president two years ago... Few people in Cuba own cars and the public transit systems they depend on are notoriously insufficient... The smaller buses are used in Havana to connect the city center with the suburbs... The government has fixed ticket prices at five Cuban pesos, equal to 22 cents U.S. And it provides fuel and the bus in exchange for a daily payment from the drivers of 824 pesos, or the equivalent of $37 U.S... The drivers keep anything they make above that amount, and so far they say they are earning more than the average Cuban salary of about $20 a month... The new system appears to be benefitting passengers, who say buses are coming much more frequently and on a timely basis than in the past... (Photo from ic2.pbase: One Havana bus. Miramar)Labels: Privatization Services
posted by Unknown @ 5:38 PM
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