How Lack of Public Transport Effects People

Submitted by fyl on 18 May, 2008 - 07:08.
The transport strike certainly had an impact on people's lives and I am sure everyone is happy it is over. Who is effected by such a strike is something worth exploring. In this thread I was singled out as not understanding the effects on the rural poor (because I live in a major city). I disagree that I don't understand that but, more important, I think those of us that live in Nicaragua have an obligation to explain what did/would happen during such a strike to help those outside Nicaragua understand the impact.

You need to understand this was just a work stoppage. While some workers elected to block roads, police were dispatched to blockades to maintain order. The blockades were opened to allow traffic to go through. That is, you might experience a delay but I know of no cases where the road was actually "closed". There was no shortage of vehicles, drivers or fuel.

I am going to toss out what I saw here in Estelí. Note that during the strike there were sometimes blockades of the Pan American highway and most city-to-city buses were not running but in-town there was no strike. However, even if there had been a strike it town, the only real impact would have been people walking rather than taking a taxi or an Urbano. Most things are within about 2km so it isn't a serious issue.

I live near the main public market and we do most of our shopping there. Many of the products you find there are grown reasonably locally. Lots of them arrive on the roof of buses. While those buses were not running (and some vendors weren't there), there were no shortages. Some products always arrive in trucks owned by the growers. They still were able to bring their products to market and it appears that some other vendors got rides into town with them. Others arrive on larger trucks (almost always old Mercedes 5-ton trucks) run by independents. They were still working.

On the Pan American highway there were some people hitch hiking but not more than was typical. It appears that lots of people just elected to not travel like they typically did.

One of my cousins lives in Estelí but works in Sébaco (44km away). She elected to just stay with a co-worker in Sébaco during the work week.

On the news, there was an interview with the director of the regional hospital here talking about how the strike had affected them. While one might assume it would mean shortages of medicine or nurses not being able to get to work, it wasn't. The problem was that people who had been brought into the hospital from rural areas had no way to get back home so the hospital was having to feed them.

So far, I have stated facts. What follows is a combination of assumption and fact. The facts come from seeing how a few rural people I know seemed to deal along with some assumption of how others would. It is intended to encourage some feedback from those with first-hand knowledge.

People who truly live "on the land" do depend on public transport but not often. Water comes from a well (many from government-supplied public wells). Cooking is done with wood collected locally. Much of what they eat they grow. They might go "to town" once a month to "stock up". The most common items they would buy in town are rice, cooking oil, sugar and coffee.

There is a sense of cooperation in the countryside. When we go to the Geek Ranch from town (about the only time I use a vehicle) we regularly pick up hitchhikers. They seem to be a combination of people returning home with the "town shopping", people going to visit other part of their family, and quite a few teachers.

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Glad it's over, but...

Submitted by expat on 20 May, 2008 - 12:29.

I'm glad the strike is over, but oil today set a new record at $129/barrel. I have the feeling that we're going to be seeing a lot more trouble down the road. Hope I'm wrong.

Yes.

Submitted by Redwood Beach on 18 May, 2008 - 07:32.

I agree with all of your statements. In Mechapa, the only big difference we noted was that the annoying bus horn being blasted at 4 am was absent. What is going to be interesting is seeing the affect of the gas prices on the local fishermen who use up a lot of fuel getting out into the ocean every night. On a similar note, one of our employees, a 22-year-old, was "cheering" the "low gas prices." We contacted our friend at the German embassy who confirmed that the lower prices are for buses, taxis and delivery trucks, which we pointed out doesn't help us because all of our hotel guests drive here, usually from Managua, and will not benefit from the program. Also, we buy specialty food and wine from Chinandega, so our costs will have to go up to compensate for the higher gas prices at the pump.

school

Submitted by Billy Bob on 20 May, 2008 - 19:48.

The strike also caused some classes to be cancelled at at least one local university. The case in point involved both professors and students from Condega who couldn´t get to school. There seemed to be slightly more hitchhikers going north from town, and they were noticibly more agressive (anxious) than usual. Of course, employees of the local bus station, including food vendors, were out or work.

My main thought on the subject is that it shows the nature of government subsidies: they become perceived as a right that justifies a stike that was a majot inconvenience for many people.

¨pata de perro¨

Not unique to Nicaragua

Submitted by fyl on 20 May, 2008 - 20:02.

In the U.S., bus systems are generally subsidized by the U.S. government. I believe that Seattle Metro (all the busses in King Country, Washington plus the monorail) were required to raise 25% of their revenue from fares in other to have the federal government pay the rest.

In Nicaragua, the buses are private. They certainly could be run by government like is typical in the U.S. but it is not clear that would reduce operating costs. My guess is that it would actually increase them. So, private with a government subsidy is not that bad a thing.