Riders board a public transit bus in Guadalajara.
Guadalajara residents have signaled their approval for the state’s public transportation system for the first time.
A survey gave transportation infrastructure a score of 7.5 compared to the 5.6 it was given in 2018. The survey asked 2,500 of an estimated 1.5 million users to give their opinions.
The transport system includes bus services, a three-line metro and a transit-way with bus-only lanes in the greater metropolitan area.
Respondents were asked to rate seven features: lighting, comfort, safety, customer attention, accessibility, infrastructure and general quality and universal accessibility.
The director of transport planning in Guadalajara, Mario Silva, highlighted some of the highest scoring features. “We can see that personal security has a rating of 7.9, attention of the driver to the user has 8.1. This could be the effect of … training strategies,” he said.
Lighting was given a score of 8.1, general accessibility 7.8, and comfort 7.7.
Universal accessibility, to allow ease of access to disabled and senior travelers, scored lowest, although none of the scores was below the threshold for approval. Within the universal accessibility category, priority seats were given a score of 8; stairways and buzzers 7.8; wheelchair holds 6.8; and lowered seating a rating of 6.6.
The survey also revealed that 18.2% of respondents had been victims of some form of sexual harassment. The majority of public transport users are women at 55.7%.
Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said he expects public satisfaction to increase. “The survey was done even before the new buses arrived; we are sure that the evaluation we do next year will show an improvement. For the first time we have a positive approval rating,” he said.
In May, 38 new 100% electric buses arrived in Guadalajara from Shanghai, China. The buses have a 58-person capacity and accessibility features such as ramps and spaces for wheelchairs.
With reports from Informador and Milenio
