Buenos Aires Herald - 15/11/2012

Buenos Aires City Deputy-Mayor María Eugenia Vidal stated yesterday that the City government sought “not to create false expectations” with Tuesday’s announcement by Mayor Mauricio Macri regarding the transfer of responsibility of the Subte underground train service.

According to Vidal, the City government will “employ the highest of efforts to improve the service, but progress will be slow” because “we are taking over a service that has over one million (pesos) of deficit merely to function as it does today.”

City Cabinet Chief Horacio Rodríguez Larreta asserted that in the “short-term” a rise in fares was not being considered, although it was being evaluated in the long-term, but emphasized that the “first step” is to “demand the transfer of funds” from the national government, “otherwise we have to analyze alternatives.”

Macri’s announcement on Tuesday was received with a general sense of relief yesterday by diverse political authorities.

The main qualms expressed were related to dissatisfaction over what was considered a delayed proactive response by Macri, as well as the Victory Front’s (FpV) concern that the City administration might increase fares. Nonetheless, most expressed high hopes for an eventual improvement to the quality of the service.

National Labour Minister Carlos Tomada expressed hope that “a new phase of management” will begin “with an improvement in the quality of life of citizens,” although asserting Macri “should have done this a year ago.” The City Auditor-General Eduardo Epszteyn described the delay in the mayor’s acceptance of responsibility as “not an economic issue, but a political one,” as “it will only account for 1.2 percent of the forecast spenditure for next year for the City.”

AGTSyP Subte union general-secretary Roberto Pianelli expressed his will to meet with the City government and discuss solutions, and his confidence that fares would not be raised, because this would result in “less users.” However, union Under-Secretary, Néstor Segovia, suggested the announcement “should be taken with a pinch of salt,” stating Macri should have criticized Metrovías’ main role in the “deterioration of the service” and also opining that “fares do not need to be raised; the current rate of 2.50 pesos is sufficient with adequate management.”