Cuba approves new licenses for rural bus, taxi operators

Cuba approves new licenses for rural bus, taxi operators
By Doreen Hemlock | Havana Bureau
July 10, 2008

HAVANA - The Raul Castro government has approved yet another small
economic reform: new licenses for private bus and taxi operators aimed
at easing Cuba's transport crunch.

Transport Minister Jorge Luis Serra said the licenses will be offered
mainly in rural areas on select routes. The government will establish
routes, timetables and prices, and it will provide fuel, state-run Radio
Rebelde reported.

Cuba began offering private transport licenses in the early 1990s after
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of hefty Soviet subsidies
sent the island's economy plunging. But as business improved, with
rising tourism and Venezuelan aid, then-President Fidel Castro halted
approvals.

Raul Castro, who took over in February, is considered more pragmatic and
business-minded than his ailing older brother Fidel. He has urged
greater efficiency and structural reforms to meet islanders' pressing
needs. Recent changes include allowing Cubans to own cell phones and
lifting salary caps for top-performing government workers, relatively
small moves in a nation where salaries average about $20 a month.

In Havana, many residents welcomed the latest change. Taxi driver Jan
Sanchez called it a "win-win."

New licenses should ease serious transit woes, help bus operators who
now run unauthorized routes to become legal and boost revenue for the
state, he said.

"Everyone benefits," said Sanchez, 34, as he waited for passengers near
Havana's seaport. "The government gets more taxes, and the guy with an
illegal route no longer worries about getting caught."

Street vendor Libertad Perez took heart at efforts to improve transport,
"Cuba's second worst problem after housing," she said. A resident of
central Havana, she often goes months without seeing relatives who live
on city outskirts. Visiting them means long waits for buses and an
hour-plus trip, when she invariably has to stand in the bus aisle,
cramped and sweating in the tropical heat.

"As long as there are controls, so private operators don't get too rich,
the new licenses are a good idea," said Perez, a Cuban history buff who
was selling used books in an Old Havana plaza.

Cuba's parliament is preparing to convene Friday for one of its two
sessions a year, and legislative commissions now are meeting with top
officials about key issues.

Housing Institute President Victor Ramirez told one commission that
construction has been hampered by shortages of vehicles to transport
materials, the state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flacubataxis0710sbjul10,0,3329970.story