“We are sick and tired of listening to promises and indignant at the recent deaths of Gustavo Berlanga and Myrna Zazueta (see story page one),” began a strongly-worded letter detailing the shortcomings of the state government’s efforts to modernize the Guadalajara metro area’s disorderly and unsafe bus transportation network.
The letter contained a unambiguous threat from the NGOs: “We are willing to collaborate with the government in projects that encourage sustainable mobility only if they assume their responsibilities … if not, we will generate more radical protest actions.
The NGOs accuse the state government of “official negligence” in confronting the “violence of bus drivers and motorists toward pedestrians, cyclists and those who use public spaces.”
The letter is especially scathing about the government’s inability to fulfill any of the 31 recommendations to modernize the metro-area bus system proposed by a citizens’ watchdog committee set up a year ago after an 18-year-old died when an out-of-control bus driver plowed into group of 20 high school students on the city beltway (periferico). The tragedy outraged public opinion and led to massive protests and – with the government’s blessing – the establishment of the Observatorio Ciudadano de la Movilidad y del Transporte Publico.
Alberto Galarza, the Observatorio’s coordinator, told the Reporter that the new model of transportation is not being fully implemented or adhered to, mostly because of “resistance” from the bus concessionaires and drivers. He also questioned the effectiveness of new training programs devised to improve the conduct and skills of drivers, which he said “do not seem to be working.”
As for the long-awaited introduction of a pre-paid card fare system – commonplace for many years on buses in most major cities of the world – Galarza said the “the technology is there but the will isn’t.”
Galarza also stressed the need to educate citizens about urban mobility issues. “Kids must be taught at an early age about traffic culture. This should be compulsory in primary and secondary schools. They must know about their obligations and rights from an early age.”
In their letter to the governor, the civic groups demand full accountability from government in carrying out each of the agreed recommendations of the Observatorio, a time frame for their implementation and a detailed breakdown of the budget for each one.
“We won’t accept abstract promises; lives are at stake,” Galarza said, adding that he expects some answers by an April 8 deadline.