The Investment Commission of the Regional Council (CORE) of Valparaíso called a meeting with the Transport Ministry and the representatives of the public transport unions, to prepare a new call for the “Renew your Bus” and “Renew your Micro” programs. for this year, in order to subsidize the renewal of these vehicles in the region.
The president of the commission, Percy Marín, explained that both “are programs that we have constantly supported and we have a commitment to the unions to be able to allocate the necessary resources. Unfortunately, we were left without being able to apply for vehicles for a year and it is precisely the year where there was the most renewal of the automotive fleet in the region, which significantly harmed transporters. Now, a series of modifications are required to be made to a ministerial decree, so that 2023 vehicles can be authorized to apply.”
To this he added that “last year we were lied to that there was progress by the Transportation Ministry on the issue, and fearing that the same thing would happen this year, we called this meeting where the Transportation Ministry, the regional councilors, the Executive of the Regional Government and the collective transport unions. Now we are clear that there will be a contest this year and that in the coming weeks we will have the bases. The beneficiaries of these programs are public transportation users.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Regional Association of Collective Taxi Microentrepreneurs, Sergio Rodríguez, thanked the invitation to the meeting “which allowed us to have greater clarity on various issues, such as the progress of the modification of Decree 100 of the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications so that the 2023 vehicles can apply (for the contest) and we hope to continue advancing with the resources approved by the Regional Government. In the Valparaíso Region there are around 8,500 urban taxis and 1,600 rural taxis (making a total of 10,100). The “Renew your Collective” Program began in 2016, and from then until Regarding the possibility of advancing to electromobility, the leader pointed out that “the resources must be much higher, because the values that electric vehicles have are unattainable. But work is being done on the modification of Decree 44, so that the subsidies that the Renew your Collective Program could have for electric vehicles are around $20 million, which means a great relief for microentrepreneurs who want to switch to electromobility in the future. .
In turn, the president of the taxibus companies of the Province of Quillota “Carolina del Valle” and “Comercial Guerra Ltda.”, Alamiro Torres, also thanked the invitation to the meeting “which allowed us to be able to present the problem of buses of rural transport in the region and the precariousness of our sector, which is the responsibility of the State and the Government that has led us to this point, because there are a series of problems that today affect and aggravate the situation of rural transport, such such as crime, the rise in fuel prices and the few resources that the State gives to the regions for the bus renewal process. That is why it is required that resources for regions for public transport be significantly increased, which will allow us to provide a better service to our users, since in this region there are approximately 1,600 machines that provide rural public transport service,” he concluded. he.
