David Agren on Mexico City's Metro: The Politics of a Price Increase David Agren - The Christian Science Monitor
go to original December 18, 2013

Metro protesters jump turnstiles last week over fare hike (RuptlyTV)

MEXICO CITY - Book vendor Antonio Manriquez hauls some 50 titles in a small suitcase six days a week through the Mexico City metro. He used to pay 3 pesos (less than $0.25) for his 30-minute commute, but that ended last Friday, when the Mexico City government raised the one-way fare to 5 pesos.

The controversial price hike is an attempt to stem the metro system’s financial losses and improve services in a transportation option famed for crisscrossing one of the biggest cities in the world, but notorious for neglected infrastructure, pickpockets, and overcrowding.

“It was a drastic measure by the government,” Mr. Manriquez says outside a metro station near the Chapultepec Park, where his books – ranging from Nietzsche to Beatles song sheets – are spread out on the sidewalk.

“If our earnings aren’t going up, it’s kind of difficult raise metro prices,” he says, noting that none of his wares are selling especially well this year.

The Mexico City metro transports more than 5 million passengers daily and is considered a necessity by workers like Manriquez, who have to travel large distances every day.

But the long-subsidized system is unsustainable and service has slipped, according to the Federal District government, which wants to put the increased revenues into improvements for the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, as the metro is formally known.

Read the rest at The Christian Science Monitor

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!