Pablo Sigal
07/15/2020 - 7:01
- Clarín.com
- Society
In another era, a "ticket" was said to lies. Then the term fell out of use. Not because the lie ceased to exist, but because the SUBE came. The game comes to mind what will happen at the AMBA from Monday: many more people will be able to go out to work , but for now it is not known how they will travel. Authorities say that, in principle, only essential workers will remain authorized to use public transport . But you know how this story ended the first time: back to phase 1.
The question is whether in the imminent decision to return to phase 3, from Monday July 20, the mistakes of the recent past will be repeated. Public transport is in the coronavirus pandemic "the mother of all battles", like the GBA in elections. What happens in this area may be the difference between a happy ending and a catastrophic one, at a time when the peak of Argentina has not yet passed.
Although some officials try to minimize its impact, the density of people on trains, subways and trains is key to the multiplication of infections. From the Nation, the City and the Province, all consulted by Clarín , affirm that "for the moment nothing changes . " Although they do not dare to give a definitive answer. That nothing changes means that essential workers continue to use the SUBE and the rest must find an alternative way to move.
The heads of each district, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Axel Kicillof, discuss the issue with their teams. What to do? Allow more people to travel and more crowded buses, trains and subways ? Or continue limiting the health-advisable quota to essential workers? Will there be efficient controls over what is decided or will it be just a story? For now, the authorities are turning more to the restrictive option.
This is how they ended up traveling on the San Martín train in mid-June. Photo: Marcelo Carroll
According to the information until the last minute of this Tuesday, on public transport everything would continue as it was until before the installation of the hard quarantine, on July 1 . That could be good if there was a plan so that those who are not authorized to get on trains and buses know in advance what the solution to that obstacle would be and the thing does not explode on the first day of the return to phase 3.
A recent memory is enough. In mid-June alerts were raised due to the high movement that came to be in public transport. Official numbers indicated that 120,000 passengers had been added to AMBA trains, compared to May, when the quarantine was stricter. This meant an increase of 22 percent . The statistic also indicated that 75 percent of the trips were made between municipalities of the Conurbano and did not reach the City.
Then, during phase 1 revisited, the number of passengers dropped again. Flow on the train fell 20 percent and on buses 11 percent. Basically because people had nowhere to go. The imminent decision to release the commercial premises again (it is estimated that around 70,000 in the City alone had closed again) will provoke the inevitable need to move many more people.
"There are not enough police or inspectors in the whole Province to control person by person," Buenos Aires sources close to the governor explain to Clarín . And they add: "We will bet again on the solidarity and responsibility of the population ." The provincial authorities value self-control: "Just as the people were extremely responsible and responded very well to what was asked of them at this stage of phase 1, we are confident that this will continue to be the case."
From the City, the answer is similar: "There is still nothing one hundred percent solved, but in principle people from new activities that add to essential activities could not travel on public transport ." Within Buenos Aires limits, the authorities are betting not only on the use of private vehicles, but also on Ecobikes as a complement to the traditional transport system. Although the winter cold can discourage that option.
Before it was decided to return to Phase 1 for three weeks, public transportation had been at the center of criticism. And the possibility of stopping the movement of trains and buses for two weeks was even considered. Then it was dismissed. The Ministry of Transport had denied that there was a direct relationship between the use of public transport and infections . They said that as the positive cases at AMBA grew, travel had remained at 1 million users per day since early May.
But the contagions were indeed triggered by a sustained demand for transportation. For the national Minister of Health, Ginés González García, this is evident and he stated this repeatedly. Kicillof, who until a few days ago was reluctant to relieve the harsh quarantine, now not only delegates the gradualism of the urban stocks to each mayor, but in his environment they believe that "it is a matter of gradually incorporating people into the circuit of activities."
If you look at the number of passengers violated on trains over the past two weeks, the number ranged from 8 to 86 people , according to the day. This amount of fines did not have great changes with respect to the previous stage of the quarantine. Some 1,200 members of the Federal Police and National Gendarmerie are assigned to custody inside trains and at stations.
The new thermal and video camera system installed on the Retiro turnstiles.
Now, the Ministry of Transport is also looking to add technology. In a pilot test, since Tuesday, equipment installed in the access turnstiles to the Miter Line of the Retiro station alert if the passengers have a fever or the chinstrap is misplaced . A thermal camera allows temperature readings from almost two meters away. And another video detects if the mask is below the nose or is not directly. And it also dissuades: why put a ticket if the SUBE has existed for a long time.
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