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Lima | July 12, 2011 [ 10:37 ]

Lima, Peru braces for bus strike Wednesday

LivinginPeru.com

Lima-based bus and van companies will carry out a 24-hour strike, aimed at paralyzing public transportation in the city tomorrow.

As reported in  El Comercio, at issue is a a new ordinance, mandated by Lima’s municipal government, more tightly regulating transportation providers.

Some of new laws prohibit that buses stop in the middle of street to pick up passengers, something which has been known to cause traffic jams.

Other rules impose strict penalties for bus companies that hire underage coin collectors without proper authorization, as well as expelling passengers without a clear reason. There also new mandates with regards to bus size and minimum standards of service.

Ricardo Pareja, who is coordinating the protests on behalf of bus and van companies, stated that owners don’t have the capacity to conform to the new laws because “it requires enormous capital, and getting that is difficult.”

Maria Jara, Urban Transport manager for the Municipality of Lima, remained firm in her stand in favor of the new ordinances, in spite of the threatened paralysis. She acknowledged that the new rules will have an impact, but were arrived at by general consensus and open debate.

Meanwhile, police chief Javier Sanguinetti affirmed that 5,000 police officers will be on duty tomorrow to guarantee order and public safety, and that would include protecting transportation providers, and their vehicles, that chose to defy the strike.

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4 Comments

# Emmett Diaz says :
July 12, 2011 [ 18:43 ]

What are we going to miss?
Pollution
Dirty buses
Dangerrously fast moving buses
Rude buse drivers
Loud music
Pick pocket experts
We should have all available metropolitano and taxis out in force!
Its time to make some big changes in Lima so bring it on!
Change your ways or go out of business!

# mericorps says :
July 13, 2011 [ 1:29 ]

I could not agree more, if the combistas wanted my sympathy, they would simply be respectful people.  Respectful on the road, respectful to their passengers, heck....at least respectful to their own buses.

I take the bus regularly and can not wait for Peru to clean out the rifraf, get unsafe drivers and buses off the roads.  This is one area where I feel the government can do much better than the free market since we see what the free market has given us..the highest death rate on the roads of any country in Latin America.

# Ash-Tree says :
July 13, 2011 [ 14:39 ]

Yeh its ridicilous, there on strike because they dont want to meet the new government demands which are stop only at bustops and no more employing underage workers as money collectors.
Ive lost count the number of accidents i have seen caused by combis all over Peru, one fatal involving the bus crossing to the wrong side of the road hiting a scooter head on killing the young girl... The cops seem to take no notice what so ever on how they drive.

# Dennis says :
July 14, 2011 [ 13:05 ]

The government tries to make buses and taxis safer for the passengers, but what happens the owners of course protest and then the government relents. You cannot satisfy everyone. There will always be people for/against any new laws, but if it is voted into law it should stand. I believe all these pieces of junk what they call buses and taxis should be off the roads. The companies that operate them must have sufficient insurance, drivers with a clean driving record, and they must meet certain safety standards with annual inspections. They also need newer equipment. Previously to coming to Lima I had an Infiniti QX4 SUV but it was 5 years old less than 40,000 miles and in absolute perfect condition but with the restrictions I couldn't bring it into Peru. The hubcaps were probably worth more than most of these buses and taxis. I find this kind of ridiculous as these buses and taxis are probably 30 years old if not older. In all fairness to these companies I think the fares should be higher so they could maintain the vehicles sufficiently but if they did raise the fares the owners would most likely pocket the increase without improving their pieces of S--T.

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