Toronto is not the only city struggling to pay for transit. While the Toronto Board of Trade suggests City Hall raise TTC fares by an additional 15 cents, today marks the fourth day of protests in Buenos Aires over the snap decision by the Mayor Mauricio Macri to raise subway fares from 1.10 to 2.50 pesos, a 127% increase.
With fewer subsidies coming from the federal government and massive inflation, Macri argued the fare increase was necessary to keep the subways running.
But union leaders and passengers are unimpressed and union-led clashes over the fare increase have led to injuries and service disruptions. In defiance of the Mayor’s Office, subway workers have begun a fare strike and are letting passengers travel for free during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
Despite union backlash, some Buenos Aires subway users seem willing to accept the fare increase provided that considerable improvements are made to the system. Mariana, 23, told the Wall Street Journal that “if they use the money to put air conditioning in the subway cars that will be all right with me.”
She added, however, that “governments here usually take the money and you don’t know how they use it.”
Union protests are set to continue through to the end of the week. A sign of things to come?
For more:
- Life just isn’t fare [Buenos Aires Herald]
- Era of Argentine Subsidies Ending [The Wall Street Journal – Paywall]
