Havana receives a batch of 89 Chinese buses to reinforce its public transport
A batch of 89 buses from China arrived at the port of Havana today to reinforce the public transport of the Cuban capital that is dragging a chronic deficit for many years, state media reported on the island.
The buses of the Chinese brand Yutong were acquired through an agreement of the Cuban ministries of Transportation and Economy and Planning with entities of the Asian nation in order to progressively modernize the fleet of passenger transport, said a television report .
He also indicated that transport authorities indicated that the credit for this investment amounted to 16 million dollars that should be paid to Chinese entities in a period not greater than 24 months.
Of the total of vehicles purchased, 50 are articulated and 39 hybrids (alternating diesel and electricity), so they reduce the use of fuels.
Four Havana bus terminals will incorporate the new Chinese buses in the next few weeks to serve the routes that cover the passenger transport of Havana, where daily 1.2 million people move, 1.1 million in 7,600 bus trips , according to data of the provincial company of the sector.
By the end of 2018, Havana had about 700 buses of the public transport system in operation, distributed in 126 routes, a figure well below the demand.
The alternative has been the private carriers - mostly owners of US-made cars of the 40s and 50s known popularly as "almendrones" - but in recent months the license to more than 2,000 autonomous taxi drivers has been revoked due to technical deficiencies, which has reduced the number of those vehicles in service provision.
