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Tijuana bus, taxi drivers protest
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20041105-9...
Tijuana transportation workers fear for jobs if new system installed
By Anna Cearley
November 5, 2004
TIJUANA ? Hundreds of buses and taxis surrounded City Hall yesterday as public transportation workers demonstrated against a plan to develop a modern
bus system that would force some of them off their established routes.
Under the new system, which is under construction in Tijuana's downtown area, a fleet of new, air-conditioned buses would operate along special lanes.
The system would be monitored through a central office and passengers would prepurchase tickets at platforms.
Taxi drivers participated in the demonstration because they account for about 70 percent of the city's transportation system.
Many of them operate like buses along set routes or at specific locations, such as the so-called "yellow taxis" that operate near the border and cater
to tourists.
"We don't oppose modernizing or changing the transportation system, but we want everyone to be taken into account ? the transportation workers and the
people who use the system," said taxi driver Roman Fierro G?mez, 27.
The city's vocal transportation unions are linked to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has been out of power in Baja California for
more than a decade, but will return to city leadership in Tijuana on Dec. 1.
Union officials estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 people joined their demonstration, which wasn't always peaceful.
City officials said two police officers and three journalists were injured by some members of the group. One photographer was pushed off a truck and
fell to the ground. Union officials promptly denounced the violence, blaming it on rabble-rousers.
Tijuana Mayor Jes?s Gonz?lez, who is with the National Action Party, or PAN, has faced several demonstrations over the past three years in his efforts
to modernize the city's system.
Last year, the city started the "Taxi Libre" program to convert many of the older taxis into newer taxis that use a meter system and carry passengers
anywhere in the city.
That change was supposed to reduce the number of route taxis to make way for the new bus system. It continues to face resistance from the
transportation unions, who resent the mayor's interference.
At yesterday's rally, which lasted several hours, members tossed around pi?atas shaped to represent the mayor riding a Taxi Libre and a green bus.
Transportation workers ripped the pi?atas apart, and then burned the pieces.
Gonz?lez said he wouldn't have gone forward with modernizing the city's bus system if representatives of the incoming administration, which will be
led by PRI Mayor-elect Jorge Hank Rhon, hadn't given him the green light.
"I asked if we should continue with this, and they concurred with this, even though nothing has been signed," he said.
City officials say it will be up to Hank's government to decide which private companies get concessions to develop the system.
At the demonstration, several union representatives, who were wearing red campaign T-shirts for Hank, said they hoped he would be more responsive to
their concerns.
"He can't intervene in this right now, because he's not in office, but he said he would try to work with us," said Abel Mora Rodarte, who represents
an alliance of transportation workers that is preparing an alternative plan to improve the city's transportation system.
Ra?l Leggs, a top city administrator, said the city had no other choice but to go forward with the changes.
"I can't imagine anything worse than what we have," he said, blaming the unrest on PRI maneuvering. "What we are trying to do is to develop a mass
transit system ? there is no other alternative."
He said those who drive route taxis and the older buses won't be put out of business, because many people will need to get to and from the bus
platforms and because the new system also needs drivers.
The city expects to put several of the new buses on the roads in upcoming days for a test drive.
The first leg of the "Ruta Troncal" project would be 11 miles, stretching from downtown to the city's northeast section, and have 42 stations,
according to city documents. About 36 buses will be assigned to the route. Each bus would seat 45 people, and carry a maximum of 100. It's expected to
serve almost 31,000 passengers each day, with a cost of about 50 cents a trip. City officials said the system, which is similar to others in Latin
America, could be running by spring.
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Tijuana taxi? Changes are a rough road
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20041106-9...
Strong driver union voices its opposition
By Anna Cearley
November 6, 2004
TIJUANA ? Just over a year ago, the city of Tijuana embarked on a revolutionary idea: Put taxis on the road that actually behave like taxis.
Until then, most of the city's taxis acted like buses, picking up their passengers along set routes. Or they carted tourists from the border to
specific drop-off points, such as the popular Avenida Revoluci?n.
The city persuaded many of these taxi drivers to convert to a newer fleet of orange and white "Taxi Libre" cabs, which can be hailed from any Tijuana
street corner, just as in New York City.
Over the past year, their numbers have grown from 25 to 2,800.
It's all part of the city's larger plan to overhaul a transportation system that developed because of rapid growth ? and political influence ? rather
than systematic planning. The next step is to develop a more efficient bus system.
But powerful transportation unions continue to resist the changes, which have created friction between the country's two main political parties.
The government officials pushing the changes are from the National Action Party, or PAN.
The powerful transportation unions are affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. The unions have held several demonstrations in
recent weeks.
In December, the PRI, which has been out of power in Baja California for more than a decade, will take back its dominant status at Tijuana City Hall,
putting the transportation plans into question.
"We expect better things," said Dario Zendejas Cisneros, a taxi union leader who represents one of the city's "red and black" route taxi groups. "We
are waiting for another government to take over, one that isn't our enemy."
PAN officials said reducing the city's route taxis was necessary to make room for the proposed bus system.
Some buses operate now, but taxis make up 70 percent of the city's transportation network. Most of those taxis operate along specific routes, and they
are identified by their painted colors.
City officials said taxis aren't efficient because they carry small numbers of people and make numerous stops along the city's main streets. Some are
more than 20 years old.
Though the city contends that the program to convert older taxis into newer Taxi Libre cabs has been fair, open and free of politics, some taxi union
members disagree.
In the past year, the number of route taxis has decreased from 5,000 to 3,000 as drivers converted to Taxi Libre cabs. Union officials said most
didn't want to make the switch, but were forced to when they tried to renew their permits.
Tijuana Mayor Jes?s Gonz?lez said the rules had changed. New regulations restricted the number of passengers per cab and required that cabs be no more
than 8 years old.
Union members also allege that the city has doled out hundreds of new permits to friends and cronies, adding even more taxis to the roads, and that
the city has given Taxi Libre cabs special treatment.
For example, one of the more profitable areas for taxis is near the border, where tourists pour in. The "yellow taxi" cabs had a virtual monopoly on
this business. Trips to specific downtown locations cost $5.
Now the cabbies are struggling because the cheaper Taxi Libre cabs take turns waiting to pick up passengers a block from the yellow taxi stand.
The city is allowing small numbers of Taxi Libres to pick up customers along designated curb areas near the border. But sometimes more that 40 cabs
line up for their turn.
"They aren't supposed to be stationed there, but there are lots of them and they are being protected," said Rafael Morales, union leader of the yellow
taxi group.
Police officers sometimes fine the extra Taxi Libres and send them away, but the Taxi Libres line up again as soon as officers are gone.
The number of taxis on the city streets has increased from 6,036 to about 6,850 over the past year as the Taxi Libre program expanded, according to
city statistics. Mayor Gonz?lez said he plans to put a hold on new permits for Taxi Libres.
The most recent taxi tally includes 2,800 Taxi Libre cabs, 3,000 taxis that operate along fixed routes, about 700 that are stationed out of specific
areas such as hotels and restaurants, and 350 of the yellow taxis that operate near the border, according to the city department of roads and
transportation.
The taxi unions agree the city's transportation system needs to improve, but they say people depend on their services.
This city of 1.5 million is growing by about 80,000 people a year. Many of the newcomers settle in isolated sections of the city not served by buses,
and the route taxis end up shuttling people to and from the downtown area.
Tijuana resident Guillermina Barr?n said that in the past she took three route taxis to return from the border to her home. She now uses Taxi Libre
cabs.
"They are faster and you don't have to wait in line," said Barr?n, who had spent the day in San Diego with her son, Orlando, who is almost 2. "It's
definitely worth it."
But other residents say they can't afford the newer cabs.
A route taxi charges about 65 cents per trip during the day. In comparison, a Taxi Libre will start at about 40 cents, but the meter system means that
a crosstown ride can cost more than $5 ? out of the reach of many city residents. The average worker earns about $11.40 a day, according to city
statistics.
Socorro Castro, 55, said she takes two route taxis to get to her job at a restaurant in the city's Zona Rio district. Now that there are fewer route
taxis circulating in the city, she said, people have to wait longer.
"You see a lot of people waiting in line," she said. "Sometimes, if I'm running late, I have to take a Taxi Libre, but they are very expensive so it's
better to wait."
City officials want the new bus system ? which will have to be developed under the incoming PRI administration ? to provide a cheaper alternative to
residents like Castro. A trip would cost about 50 cents.
Bus platforms are being built along the first leg of the new system, which would cover 11 miles of city streets from downtown to the city's northeast
section. The bus plan is expected to replace the routes of many of the remaining older taxis and less-efficient buses.
But many of the plan's details, such as who gets the private sector concessions to operate the system, will be made by the next administration, said
Gonz?lez.
While city officials say that necessity ? not politics ? is motivating the changes, political interests got the city's transportation network to the
point it is now.
When the PRI was in power, the party doled out taxi permits to friends and cronies. The taxi unions in turn supported the party in its re-election
bids. The system prevented conflict and preserved the status quo.
After the National Action Party came to power in Baja California more than a decade ago, it cleaned up the permit process but didn't attempt to tinker
more with the system. It didn't want to aggravate the unions, which some believed had the power to paralyze the city.
"There was so much delay, for years, for a technical and orderly solution to the city's transportation problems," said Tonatiuh Guillen L?pez, a
specialist in municipal reform at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a think tank. "It was absolutely critical for the city's economic and social
health to modernize."
The administration of Gonz?lez was the first to have full authority to regulate the taxis, following the transfer of such powers from the state to the
city.
As the number of Taxi Libre cabs increased, so did confrontations between some of their drivers and drivers of the older cabs. But in other cases, the
converts remained loyal to their unions.
At the headquarters for the "red and black" taxi union led by Zendejas, union members reminisced recently near old black-and-white photos of their
political heyday. Of the group's original 650 taxis, just 200 are route taxis. The rest have converted to Taxi Libre cabs, Zendejas said.
Some of the members were tricked into changing, he said, and others did it because they thought it would be more profitable. Nonetheless, most remain
affiliated with the union: A Taxi Libre radio operator works out of the same building, helping drivers find their destination. And the group's
converted Taxi Libre cabs sport a small union logo.
Israel del Castillo Infante said he converted one of his two red and black cabs to a Taxi Libre.
"At first, this was new and people wanted to use it, but when so many taxis ended up on the road it stopped being profitable," he said. "At the
beginning, the Libres were busy between 70 and 100 percent of the time and now it's about 35 percent."
Though the taxi system is expected to make Tijuana more accessible to tourists, city officials warn tourists to be alert.
Some drivers have been cheating tourists, claiming that the meters totals are in dollars and not pesos, according to city officials and taxi drivers
themselves.
There are also about 100 fake Taxi Libre cabs circulating through the city, according to city officials.
The officials suggest that people make sure the cars have a special taxi license plate, and to try to get a feel about the taxi driver before stepping
inside. It also helps to jot down the number of the taxi in case a complaint needs to be filed later.
Despite the bumpy start, Gerardo Medel Torres, the city's director of roads and transportation, doesn't believe a new government will roll back the
progress.
"When you leave a machine functioning, then different people will take over with a different style, but there are some things that don't go back," he
said. "This is inevitable."
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