Tapatios piled into the backs of pick-up trucks, dusted off old bicycles and hitched rides with neighbors to get to work, school or other appointments on Monday, November 12, as 80 percent of the city’s bus drivers took sudden strike action.
Announced by public transport unions only the night before, the disruptive public transportation strike lasted from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m., although some buses resumed service from 2 p.m. Around two million commuters were left stranded in the metropolitan zone, while strikes in Puerto Vallarta, Ciudad Guzman and Tepatitlan caused further disruption.
Wildly varying media reports placed the number of striking drivers at anywhere between 2,000 and 8,000. After a rise in fares was blocked in August, the bus drivers wanted an increase in their share of profits, demanding 1.60 pesos for every ticket sold, 33 percent more than the 1.20 pesos they currently receive.The strike ended with the promise of further talks, but a raise in fares ruled out and no guarantee of an increased share for drivers.
“I reject any possibility of authorizing an increase in bus fares,” Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez reiterated on Twitter the following day.
The Bus Drivers Alliance has not ruled out more strikes, but will await the impending decision of the State Administrative Tribunal (TAE) on tariff rates before deciding upon further industrial action.
The Pre-Tren, Macrobus and Tren Ligero ran as normal on Monday, albeit with overcrowded carriages, while the strikes caused increased traffic on the roads, with taxi drivers proving the only beneficiaries of the strike.
Municipal and state police and fire department vehicles ran replacement services across the metropolitan zone, transporting the public along major roads such as the Periferico, Alcalde, the Calzada Independencia and avenidas Lopez Mateos, Mariano Otero, Patria, Revolucion and Vallarta.
In the wake of the chaos, the Jalisco Transport Department (SVT) announced new measures to come into effect in the event of future strikes. Owners of vehicles under 10 years old that seat at least seven people will be able to obtain a temporary permit to run replacement services along routes determined by the SVT, charging six pesos per passenger.
Some critics say the proposal is ridiculous, arguing that the SVT is ill-equipped to regulate such a service.