Aconcagua Radio: "The people of Lavalle are upset," said Nancy Griffone, from Territorial Planning

"Very mixed feelings," is how Nancy Griffone, Director of Territorial Planning, describes the mood of Lavalle residents on this first day of the public transportation fare increase to Aconcagua Radio . The proximity of the municipality and the City Council to the bus terminal makes it easier for residents to directly express their discontent.

"They're upset because they don't understand why fuel prices are dropping and bus fares are increasing," explains Griffone, reflecting a concern resonating throughout the community. The main complaint lies in the quality of medium-distance service within the department. "They're not happy with the medium-distance transportation system here in Lavalle , so it's as if we have to shoulder the burden of paying an increasingly expensive ticket for a service that doesn't meet all our needs," states the Director of Territorial Planning.

When investigating the service's shortcomings, Griffone details several critical points: insufficient service frequencies , buses in poor condition, and capacity that is often exceeded by demand. "We have been working in coordination with the provincial Transportation Secretariat for almost a year, conducting a survey for each of the districts in our department. Lavalle is the only department in the province of Mendoza that doesn't have an updated transportation bidding process, so our bidding process expired in 2019. So we are operating with a bidding process that dates back to 2009."

However, the biggest problem, according to Griffone, is the obsolescence of the routes, designed 15 years ago for a population that has almost doubled. "The company has maintained or renewed the fleet, but the problem is that we have the same routes as 15 years ago. Lavalle's population almost doubled according to the last census. So, perhaps the problem is that many of our districts don't have bus routes."

The situation in some districts is alarming, reaching the point of having only one bus route per month for the most remote areas. "Laguna de Rosario, for example, has one weekly route, and San Miguel has one monthly route. But we have districts 7 or 8 km from the main town that have two routes per day."

Nancy Griffone assesses the impact of this lack of connectivity, especially in an area like Lagunas del Rosario, which has approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Students and teachers are the ones who suffer the most from this situation. "A university or college student has to come live in Tulumaya or the city of Mendoza. Teachers who teach at boarding schools often have to pay for taxis or freight to get there, which is extremely expensive."

In contrast to the poor service in more remote areas, the main routes connecting Villa Tulumaya with the Mendoza terminal operate every half hour. However, even in these cases, there are inefficiencies that harm users. "The problem is that, for example, people who live in Jocolí, further north, could access Mendoza City directly via Route 40 and would take approximately 45 minutes to reach Mendoza, but instead of going directly via Route 40, the route goes all the way to Lavalle, and thus takes two hours to get from Jocolí to Mendoza... Students who go to university have to take the first bus at 5:10 a.m. And that bus also drops them off at the terminal, meaning they have to take another bus from there to UNCuyo, for example."

Griffone doesn't hide the frustration and helplessness this situation generates, given the direct contact with residents. The impact on education is particularly worrying. "When we go, for example, to schools to talk and conduct surveys about transportation, parents approach us and say, 'I have three school-age children, and I can't send all three of them to school all week because I can't afford it.' Then, the number of children who end up studying, perhaps a tertiary education here in Tulumaya, because they had to drop out of university in the city because they couldn't afford the fare; or the number of children who can't even access tertiary education because they live in very remote districts where there are no bus routes that allow them to get to the tertiary education that operates here in the afternoon and at night. So, we are directly depriving them of the possibility of studying, of professional training, and of a better future for our department, because afterward, they are professionals who stay here."

Faced with this reality, the municipality has formally submitted its demands to the provincial authorities. And while a new tender has not been announced, Griffone is hopeful that the negotiations with the province will bear fruit in the short term. "We haven't heard about a new tender, but we are working on incorporating new routes and new frequencies, which would expand the service we have today."

Despite the fare increase, the official acknowledges that residents would be willing to make a financial effort if the service were substantially improved. In this regard, she highlights a positive announcement for Lavalle: "From what we've been told, Lavalle will be the first department to implement the SUBE service outside the metropolitan area."

The implementation of the SUBE system in Lavalle raises expectations of greater efficiency and control in the service. However, the urgency of addressing deficiencies in frequencies, routes, and the condition of the buses remains a priority for residents, who hope that this new fare increase will be accompanied by concrete improvements that will allow them access to decent public transportation tailored to their needs.

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