BA only city in the world without subsidized transport, Pianelli says

The secretary general of the Subway and Tram Union Association, Roberto Pianelli, renewed his complaints against Mayor Mauricio Macri’s administration for not having contemplated subsidy funds for the service in the 2013 budget.

“There must be no single city in the world in which the public transport is not subsidized. What’s happening on Buenos Aires is no surprise, we all knew that there would be no money by the end of this year”, Pianelli told reporters during a radio interview.

Likewise, the union leader remembered that during the 10-day strike Macri came out to say “that if it would be his call and no one else’s, he would cut the service for three years.”

Yesterday, Pianelli warned that there could be a new conflict affecting the subway service “before year’s end” after indicating that the Metrovías company “is getting less subsidies.”

The union representative assured that the new conflict could ignite because “if Metrovías receives less money it will certainly have consequences.”

“Metrovías is complaining about the lack of subsidies in the City budget,” Pianelli said.

“From 780 million pesos in subsidies, Metrovías will now get approximately 200 million,” he explained.

“The Roggio group [which holds the service license] knows how to defend itself and this is going to create a problem before year’s end,” Pianelli added.

“They will say: ‘Look, we either cannot pay or we’re overstaffed’. Something like this will happen, because we’re the most sensitive sector,” the unionist said.

After both the National and City governments announced they would not subsidize the subway starting in 2013, some possible new fares are being considered.