Havana Private Taxis to Get Permits

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Sept. 8 – The Cuban government will begin issuing on Friday licenses for private passenger and cargo transportation, suspended 10 years ago.

The authorization puts into effect a decision announced in July 2008, which in the beginning only applied to rural zones, reported IPS on Tuesday.

Cuba’s transportation deteriorated drastically beginning with the severe economic crisis of the early 1990s.

While new buses have been imported from China and other countries in recent years, service is still deficient, worsened by the current global economic crisis and the inability to import sufficient fuel.

Many of the collective taxis in the capital are either 1950s US made cars or later models made in the former Soviet Union.

Fares run from the equivalent of US $0.50 to $1.00, accessable to a portion of the population with non-salaried income.  Bus fares are US $0.02.