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Friday, April 15, 2011

TransantiASSgo!

Everyday in Santiago, our beautiful and friendly city, millions of people use public transport to come and go through it. They use it to go to work, to their academical institutions or any other destination, and then return home safe.
In order to keep it that way, in 2007 came Transantiago, an effective transport system made to completely satisfy the people's need for comfort and short-timed travells.. or that's what the government thought.

Well, I'm one of that million people who use it.. and it TOTALLY SUCKS! But in case you haven't noticed why, I'll expose my reasons.

In comparison with the old transport system, it's even slower. The routes they chose and the lack of buses turn my way back home into a nightmare sometimes. I arrive home in 1 and a half hours exactly, the same time it takes me to get to my cottage in Maitencillo.

In what matters to machinery, there are some new buses, but also "pimped" ones: Old machines painted white and green, like the new ones. Obviously, on the inside, they remain broken and filthy. A worrying amount of accidents have occurred because of this.

Let's talk about drivers: they were supposed to have a special training in both driving and public relations skills. It seems it has failed.. I mean, there have to be at least one of them that does his job right, but most of them are still driving as fast as hell and arguing with any stressed dumbass that wants to get on the bus when there's no more room. Besides, they keep that old driver's tradition of skipping bus stops when there's students waiting.

The influx of people inside trains or buses is huge in "peak hours" (about 7 individuals per square meter). This overcrowding critically increases the risk of being robbed inside public transport, making the job easier to our dear friends with "sopaipilla" haircut: thieves (Flaytes).
Even though I'm familiar with the squeezing motion of great groups of people due to my aficion to Metal concerts, sometimes I just feel like kicking people's brains, so they can finally understand a simple thing: Allow people to get out first, so you can get in. They look like monkeys at moments, specially some old ladies: they get inside the train (Metro) as quick as their legs can carry them, with their faces twisted with anxiety, like saying "Give me a seat! give me a seat!", and once they're stablished, puff! All the strength and speed they shown a few seconds ago dissappears magically. It's funny, but it makes me sick!

Now, economics is the greatest fail of this system: The way of charging is quite smart because it's quicker than before and protects the drivers from being assaulted as they don't deal with money, but besides this, there's no other high point in this topic.
The ticket price increase almost every month. when the system just started, student fare was around $100. Now it's $180. Adult fare reached $300, but now it's almost double.
Prices up, salaries down.. in one word: A B U S E!

In my perception, the only way of improvement is to put end to this system, reinvent it, and then MAYBE.. JUST MAYBE, after years of research, reapply it.

So: engineering sucks, implementation sucks, price rating sucks.. Transantiago SUCKS!
















PD: This topic really pissed me off! I tried hard not to mention the F word, but this song use it.. a lot. It represents what I think in some way.

PARENTAL ADVISORY! EXPLICIT LYRICS.

Slipknot - Surfacing















(1).

2 comments:

  1. Everyday in Santiago, our beautiful and friendly city, millions of people use public transport to come and go through it. They use it to go to work, to their academical institutions or any other destination, and then return home safe.
    In order to keep it that way, in 2007^ came Transantiago, an effective transport system made to completely satisfy the people's need for comfort and short-timed travells.. or that's what the government thought.

    Well, I'm one of that million people who use it.. and it TOTALLY SUCKS! But in case you haven't noticed why, I'll expose my reasons.

    In comparison with the old transport system, it's even slower. The routes they chose and the lack of buses turn my way back home into a nightmare sometimes. I arrive home in 1 and a half hours exactly, the same time it takes me to get to my cottage in Maitencillo.

    In what matters to machinery, there are some new buses, but also "pimped" ones: Old machines painted white and green, like the new ones. Obviously, on the inside, they remain broken and filthy. A worrying amount of accidents have occurred because of this.

    Let's talk about drivers: they were supposed to have a special training in both driving and public relations skills. It seems it has failed.. I mean, there have to be at least one of them that does his job right, but most of them are still driving as fast as hell and arguing with any stressed dumbass that wants to get on the bus when there's no more room. Besides, they keep that old driver's tradition of skipping bus stops when there's students waiting.

    The influx of people inside trains or buses is huge in "peak hours" (about 7 individuals per square meter). This overcrowding critically increases the risk of being robbed inside public transport, making the job easier to our dear friends with "sopaipilla" haircut: thieves (Flaytes).
    Even though I'm familiar with the squeezing motion of great groups of people due to my SP aficion to Metal concerts, sometimes I just feel like kicking people's brains, so they can finally understand a simple thing: Allow people to get out first, so you can get in. They look like monkeys at moments, specially some old ladies: they get inside the train (Metro) as quick as their legs can carry them, with their faces twisted with anxiety, like saying "Give me a seat! give me a seat!", and once they're stablished, puff! All the strength and speed they shown a few seconds ago dissappears magically. It's funny, but it makes me sick!

    Now, economics is the greatest fail of this system: The way of charging is quite smart because it's quicker than before and protects the drivers from being assaulted as they don't deal with money, but besides this, there's no other high point in this topic.
    The ticket price increase almost every month. when the system just started, student fare was around $100. Now it's $180. Adult fare reached $300, but now it's almost double.
    Prices up, salaries down.. in one word: A B U S E!

    In my perception, the only way of improvement is to put end to this system, reinvent it, and then MAYBE.. JUST MAYBE, after years of research, reapply it.

    So: engineering sucks, implementation sucks, price rating sucks.. Transantiago SUCKS!

    Raul,
    I have to agree with you since it was supossed to be a better system and I think it´snot!
    miss
    p.s. good intro!

    ReplyDelete