New Bus Lanes on the Corridors

As of October, the Mass Transportation Company (Mi Bus) will enable exclusive lanes for the Metro Bus circulating the North and South corridors.

Carlos Sánchez Fábrega, chairman of the board of directors of Mi Bus, stressed that the Accidental Association consortium C & C Corredores Norte y Sur should complete the work next September.

As part of the process, there will be a series of meetings with representatives of the National Highway Company and the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), to define how the exclusive lane will operate on both roads.

This is a $ 27 million project, which covers signage, expansion and adaptation affecting both corridors  The North corridor  which begins in Albrook and ends in Brisas del Golf. Meanwhile, in the South corridor works will extend for about 16 kilometers, from Tocumen to Atlapa.

With this proposal, the authorities expect that people who use public transport on both routes will save about 65% in the time it takes them to reach their destinations. That is, a Metro Bus will take between 27 and 46 minutes less to make their trips.

The official’s statements were made yesterday in the middle of a rendering of accounts, two years after the State assumed the administration and operation of Mi Bus.

Ignasi Armengol, general manager of Mi Bus, said that from the first quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2018 not only an increase in the number of passengers mobilized, but also the company’s income was achieved.

According to the figures provided, the company went from moving 67.8 million users in the first quarter of 2016 to 82.9 million during the first six months of this year.

In regards to income, the amount went from $58.1 million dollars to $75 million dollars duing the same period.

Luis Torres , spokesman of the Public Transport Users Association, said that the increase in the number of passengers has been  because pirates or "red devils" have been taken out and users "have no other alternative" than using the Metro Bus.

He added that the issue of frequency and number of buses continues to be a "failure" in the public transportation system that affects users.

Users have also been demanding for years that a greater number of buses be purchased, not only to provide service on the main roads, but also on the outskirts of Panama City.