Last Thursday, it was captured on video how a Transcaribe driver got out of the vehicle he was driving, following users attacked him for trying to prevent a subject from selling tickets at the bus door.
Beyond the driver’s actions that caused confusion in the public, the situation revealed the illegal sale of tickets that the Integrated Mass Transportation System (SITM) suffers today. (Read here: The truth behind the Transcaribe driver who abandoned his bus)
There are no recharges or cards
Edinson Parada, vice president of the National Union of Transport Workers (SNTT), said that today many Transcaribe users are forced to buy tickets from third parties due to the lack of card sales and recharging points in the city.
“This problem became a business for many. There are people who resell tickets for up to $3,500. Others even sell the cheapest ticket but tell users not to check the turnstile, ”he indicated.
He added: “In Bocagrande there is no place to recharge, so there is a person who sells tickets for 3,000 pesos at the bus stop. The same happens in the Transportation Terminal, in Santa Lucía and in El Rodeo. Even in the Plaza Colón sector, on Transversal 54, there is a man in a kiosk that has a notice that says Transcaribe tickets are sold.
The vice president of the SNTT assured that the situation is worrying for the Transcaribe drivers themselves, who on several occasions have been subjected to verbal attacks by users when trying to avoid and prevent people from selling tickets irregularly.
Colcard speaks
Nixon Navarro, manager of Colcard, the company in charge of collecting the SITM, explained that in the city, in addition to the charging points at each station, there are 72 external points located in the neighborhoods.
Of these, regarding 60 are included in the contract with the Punto de Pago company, while the rest are businesses contracted directly with Colcard.
Navarro stated that although the goal is to continue expanding the charging points, this is not an easy task.
“Today we have two limitations to expand the network. The first is that many of the businesses do not want to sell top-ups, others want to sell but want too high a rate share. The second is that with Point of Payment we have a technological limitation and that is that recharge is sometimes not available right away, you have to wait regarding three hours for the system to update and recharge to be enabled or go to a recharger at the stations” explained the manager.
Faced with the sale of cards, Navarro acknowledged that there is a shortage of them.
The cards are made with components called semiconductors, which are in very short supply worldwide. We have been making efforts everywhere to get something and sell to people”
Nixon Navarro, Colcard’s manager.
He pointed out that four months ago they bought a batch of 15 thousand cards which will be arriving in the city between this Wednesday and Thursday and in approximately two months another 100 thousand will arrive, which were already acquired in the United States.
Navarro stated that beyond the number of external recharging points, many users, despite having places nearby to buy the ticket, prefer to do it with third parties to avoid walking too much, and others due to ignorance of the sites.
The manager recalled that from the Colcard website you can recharge personalized cards and see the external recharging points in the neighborhoods.
Recharging points in the neighborhoods.
What does Transcaribe say?
Transcaribe rejected the sale of the illegal sale of tickets of the system that has been presented.
He recalled that the sale of tickets on board the buses is prohibited and that the support or participation in these activities by company personnel is considered a serious offense in the work regulations.
Likewise, the manipulation of the bus turnstile is not allowed, and drivers are obliged to report any situation in this regard.
The SITM called on users, when they witness a situation like this, to report it through the email [email protected], with the bus license plate, the place of the event, the date and time of the report. .