Riffs on Transportation in Cuba

Crossing the street in Cuba is a pretty sedate affair.  There’s just not that much traffic, and most of it is going slowly, especially the horse-drawn carriages (don’t think of New York City), the bikes, the scooters, and the small motorcycles.  

Crosswalks are for losers.  Whenever the mood strikes you to cross the street, that’s when you go.  Rush hour isn’t.  As a pedestrian, you feel a sense of freedom.  With the increasing number of cell phones in Cuba, I do have to believe there is an increase in the number of pedestrian getting hit as they stare at their screens and walk blindly into the street.

The rough roads have the added “advantage” of slowing traffic down, if only to avoid being swallowed in one of the many potholes that dot the road.  Even when the roads don’t have potholes, they are rough enough that drivers have to go slow.  Interesting fuel conservation strategy.

On a two lane road in the countryside, if one side of the road is rough and the other is relatively recently paved (last 20 years or so), drivers will drive on the wrong, but smoother side of the road if no traffic is coming.  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining (if I lived there, I suppose I would), but just reporting on my observations.  Frankly, the road conditions didn’t bother me. . .I wasn’t driving.  

Two years ago, I was discouraged from renting a car, so this time I did not even inquire.  It appears car rental is more of thing now. 

Cuban license plates all have a B (government), P (private), or T (tourist), and I actually saw plenty of T plates – not only in Cienfuegos, but also surprising numbers in Havana.  Driving in European cities is not something I dread; it, like driving in Boston or New York, is a challenge to me, a test of my man skills.  You could not pay me to drive in Havana.  (Test me out, send me plenty of money, and I still won’t drive in Havana).

Walking is not totally safe, however, as the sidewalks are in dangerous shape in many places, uneven, broken, or featuring ankle-snapping ruts, you can look up and walk a bit, but you do have to look down at where you are walking.  There is no evenness to sidewalks and streets, I could put my hiking boots to good use.

A lost art in America, hitchhiking is popular in Cuba.  It is popular because it is necessary for many.  I never saw anyone getting a ride, although they must because they keep doing it.  Apparently the busses almost never make their schedules, if they run at all.

I asked our guide in Cienfuegos if he owned a car.  He laughed ruefully.  He would point to a 10 year old, somewhat beaten up used car, and say, “that would cost $40,000.”  Of course, most,if not all, Cubans do not make that much money in a decade, much less a year.  He got around by hitchhiking, as he lives in a small town about 15 kilometers from Cienfuegos.

Transportation in Cuba fascinates me.