Friday, August 31, 2007
Will it be all out on the Tenerife busses?
Here on the "Island of Eternal Spring Uncertainty", the news is ... We don't know if there is to be a bus strike or not, yet today. Tourists, or residents for that matter, who prefer to do the "environmentally friendly" thing and use public transport may be reduced to simply crossing their fingers.
Earlier reports were that drivers were to begin an indefinite strike from August 31st. That position was reaffirmed on August 23rd, when it appeared that just five routes were affected by reorganization plans, earlier described by workers as "aggressive" and as a "dismantling" of the service.
Look Closer define the word guagua (Canarian for bus), as being "A motor vehicle with more than 9 seats destined to the public transport of persons and, only when the driver deems opportune, their baggage. Characterized by being uncomfortable, unpunctual and with a predisposition to suffer breakdowns." Actually, they are not that bad where live.
The "war" between the bus and the tram in Tenerife became one of more than just words when a bus ran into a tram in Santa Cruz.Clash of the Titans
Look Closer go on to say that the busses are more "characteristic" on this island, owing to the fact that there is only one bus company, TITSA, and no competition in Tenerife, which is, unfortunately, perfectly true.
More relevant to the current situation, they add that, "some routes currently run empty, given the apparition of a new mode of transport, the Tranvía de Tenerife (Tram)."
Ah, so now we get to the crux of the matter. The routes that TITSA want to merge and/or reduce and one they want to eliminate from service, all run in the metropolitan area (Santa Cruz / La Laguna) served by the tram.
Well, depending on which press report you read, Canarias24horas are fairly optimistic, saying that TITSA workers "might not" strike, after their latest meeting with the Cabildo (Island Corporation) as they have reached a "pre-agreement" over new terms (that I won't bore you with!)
ABC, on the other hand, say that despite this, the strike is "still in the air".
Still, you can always go to the TITSA website to use the recently introduced free service that allows users to consult the estimated time of arrival of the busses at any determined stop.
They have a sort of English version too, I think you'll find it under "What lines stop in...? and Time to arrival?"
Using that facility, I found my nearest stop and it appeared from that information that busses are running (yes, I suppose I could have looked out of the window, but they are few and far between here). What I can't work out from that is which direction is which from the options offered. :)
(Anyway, it was certainly better than, "What line took me in my town to go to...?", though they do say, "Page in tests. We are working to do it better."
That so reminds me of the old British Rail "We're getting there" slogan! :)
Since the Corporation took over the running of the bus company, they have announced spending of 4.8 million euros to modernize the fleet and, despite all the piss-taking and complaints, amazingly, the Canaries is fourth amongst communities in Spain that have most increased bus usage recently.
2 Comments:
Pamela Heywood wrote (on
September 03, 2007 6:25 PM)
De nada. Es un muy buen explicacion de la tema.
Gracias por el link :)
Saludos