Transantiago Loan - Don't Pay the Loser Cruiser

If you live in Santiago or travel here, and you pay for the bus, you are doing more harm to Chilean society than benefit. At this point, it looks like conservatives, liberals and even government officials would agree with this stance. Do NOT pay for the bus. Read my guide on how to ride the bus for free.

So the government took out a US $160 million loan to prop up the poorly planned and much reviled Transantiago public transportation failure. Until April.

Here's a summary of the extensive criticism that's already been voiced. At least what I've found so far without hardly looking.

Conservative Criticism
Analysis in El Mercurio complains that the government went straight to Banco Estado, the state bank, without an open bidding process among all banks. They also point out that it was a CYA (cover-your-ass) loan, because if they didn't get this credit they would have had to tap into the 2% of taxpayer money reserved for national emergencies, and that just wouldn't look good.

Possibly part of that same argument, Santiago Times reports how UDI Sen. Jovino Novoa complained that the loan might not be legal since the government bypassed congressional approval to obtain it.

Government Criticism
Santiago Times also reports that socialist party member complained about how the exorbitant investment is another case of Santiago-centrism while the rest of the country gets neglected.

Liberal Criticism
That is, adding some leftiness to the already *liberal* application of criticism. Marcel Claude whipped up a nice critique of the Chilean government's frantic bailing out of Transantiago. If you can't read spanish here's some choppy translation of select snippets:

Stranger yet is the gigantic contradiction between the Treasurer's obsession for fiscal balance and this insane waste of Transantiago. When it comes to financing education or public health, or raising the minimum wage, the criterion is draconian and unable to be appealed: prudence in fiscal administration. But, when it comes to the tragic public transit run by the private companies, fiscal balances are the furthest thing from the authorities' minds.

...the fundamental reason why [Transantiago] has caused so much trouble for the citizens, is that the system was never thought about as a way of serving the public interest, but rather the private interest. The worst: a significant part of the funds and fiscal credits to finance the Transantiago deficit are destined for the operators' utilities.

It becomes apparent then that the obsessions for fiscal balance are merely arguments to facilitate the achievement of private interest, and nothing more. When the deficits are to raise the minimum wage or improve education, they are bad because they strengthen the public sector, democracy, social justice. But, when they serve private interest, they don't notice the costs because they don't imply more public functionaries or better educated citizens, but rather only more profitability for the private sector.

Again, when you're in Santiago, I strongly urge you not to pay for the bus. It's much more than just saving a buck-per-ride. It's about not giving a vote of confidence - even a buck's worth - to the massively corrupt and inept.

Take your pick some people like a Chilean friend of mine say Santiago is just a bunch of hicks living in unplanned urban sprawl and they can't handle anything as *urban* as a bus system. Others like Mr. Claude say its a sinister beholdenness to private sector. Take your pick either way I'm committing to do my very best to not give up a buck to those greedy pigs every time I ride the loser cruiser.