TRANSANTIAGO >> BEFORE AND AFTER

Hello, today I`m going to talk about a really interesting topic for all the people that live in Chile, specifically in Santiago: Transantiago.

Transantiago is the new transport system of Santiago, Chile. Well, it is not so new, it started in 2007 I think, and its implementation caused a lot of problems for the people that use this way of transport every day to go to there work, schools, or universities.

After all the troubles that the implementation of this new transport system causes, I think that Transantiago is better than the old system for many reasons. First, thinking about the Transantiago drivers (called “Transantiago-operators”), this new system is so much safer than the other, because the operators only have to drive. But in the old system the driver was a driver and a cashier too, which was very dangerous for the driver who has to do both things at the same time. In addition to of the elimination of the double responsability of the driver (as a driver and a cashier) in the pre-Transantiago system,it is very important to mention the fact that the drivers don`t handle money any more, which means that it reduces the possibilities of being assaulted, something very common in the old system. Another benefit for the Transantiago drivers is the fact that now they have a constant salary, wich one doesn`t depend on the sale of tickets anymore.

Thinking about the passengers, I think that the Transantiago system is better than the other system too. Because now you know where is the bus stop for sure, the bus doesn`t stop in every corner anymore, or in the middle of the street.

My experience with this new system has been good. When the system started it was a little bit caotic, because the number of buses that I usually could use from my house reduce to half. But now I don`t have very big problems, only the low frequency of buses in the morning, at 7 am.

I think that the most important change in order to make the Transantiago more effective is to regulate the frequency of the buses, and it is something that needs to be regulated. It iIs not possible that people have to wait hours in the bus stop because the bus doesn`t pass, or it just doesn´t stop because it is full.