[sustran] Re: Answer to Alan P. Howes (Question on Bus Drivers, Cash, Meal Reliefs)

[Paula Negron Poblete]

Hello Alan, first of all, yes, all buses in Mexico city work that way. 
Until a few years ago (1994), there was a public transport company called 
Ruta-100 wich also operated buses. In those buses, fares were collected in 
a different way, buses had a box-fare were the money was collected, but now 
that the company broke, all the buses are privatized. In fact, there are 
several kind of vehicles: regular buses, minibuses and microbuses, the last 
ones represent the majority of the total fleet, they have approximatively 
35 places, but they are disposed in a very incomfortable way. The regular 
buses have been introduced starting 1996 as a way to reduce the number of 
vehicles in the street, which is very high, around 61000 units of buses 
(all kinds) in Mexico city.
Concerning the schedules and routes, the transport agency fix them, but 
actually the process takes too long, so there are many "informal" buses.By 
the way, if you want more information about the transport system in Mexico 
city, i can send you two documents, the first is my master's degree thesis, 
but it's written in spanish, so i don't know if you'll be able to read it. 
I also have some documents about the transport administration in Mexico 
city and Montreal, those are in french, if you are interested, send me your 
personal email, so i can send them to you.
Cheers.
Ps. Anyone who is interested in these papers, send me an email and i'll 
send them to you

________________
Paula Negron Poblete
Universite de Montreal
Faculte d'Amenagement