Frontera NorteSur February 2002

The revisions to the previous transportation law were made with the participation of transportation companies, according to Saade.

Other changes to the law mean that the concession of routes to private companies will be more strictly regulated and that companies will have more freedom to change routes to meet demand.

Source: El Mañana (Reynosa), December 11, 2001.

Little Houses on the Border: 452 Square Foot Homes

According to Mexican law, Infonavit (Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los
Trabajadores, Institute of the National Fund for Workers' Homes) homes are supposed to be at least 7 meters wide (approximately 23 feet) and 18 meters long (59 feet). That's what Lucila Ayala Yang of Nuevo Laredo's Benito Juárez-Infonavit neighborhood thought she was getting when she agreed to an Infonavit house. However, what the five-person Ayala family and their 600 neighbors received were houses that measured 3.5 meters by 12 meters--approximately 452 square feet.

"It was a true trick," Ayala said. "They took advantage of our need for a house."

Ayala and others in the neighborhood have started legal action to demand new, larger homes that were built to legal specifications.

The families also complain that their homes are of poor quality and that they must spend too much of their income on housing payments and repairs. After only a few months in their homes, cracks have appeared in the walls, rain water comes in and some houses have begun to slowly sink.

Source: El Mañana, December 3, 2001. Article by Silvia Alvarez Araiza.

Ciudad Juárez Public Transportation: "Slow, High-Priced, Polluting Junk"

A recent article in the Ciudad Juárez newspaper, El Diario, described the city's busses as "slow, high-priced, polluting junk."

The transportation system, which is also described as inefficient in the article, wastes much of its users' time. Getting to and from work or school, the average user loses eleven hours per week. This translates into 572 hours per year, or nearly 24 full days out of a year.

According to Salvador González Ayala, general coordinator for the study of transportation at the City Institute for Planning and Investigation (Instituto Municipal de Investigación y Planeación, IMIP), Cd. Juárez's bus lines are based on routes that zig-zag their way into the center of town. For greater efficiency, González said the city should establish a system of trunk and feeder lines.

However, González says that because of political differences between the city and state governments, there will be no immediate reform of the bus system. Other efficiency problems according to González are related to the age of the busses , which are old school busses, the busses' slow speed (especially in unpaved areas) and the high number of transfers that riders must make. All of these factors combine to mean that a 15 or 20 minute car ride translates into a 40 to 50 minute-long bus ride.

Architect José María Rivera had this to say about the public-transportation experience, "Getting on the bus is like entering another dimension. It's absurd that an enterprising city like ours does not have a transportation system that rises to the level of the city. We are the people that ride the busses and it's up to us to demand better quality, it's up to us to ask the authorities to intervene for better service."

Source: El Diario, December 30, 2001. Article by Guadalupe Salcido.