Cuba's public transport plunges to all-time low amid US fuel blockade, minister says
HAVANA, Oct 22 - Cuba's Transportation Minister Eduardo Rodriguez Davila faces daily what appears to be mission impossible: moving millions of people by plane, train and automobile across an island nation that spans 780 miles (1,250 km) — with virtually no fuel.
Since the United States imposed a de facto ban on fuel imports on Cuba's communist-run government in late January, the Caribbean's largest island has seen an unprecedented collapse in public transportation.
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island → plunge → transportation
"Traditional public transportation is at one of its lowest points of all time," Rodriguez Davila, a mechanical engineer turned minister, told Reuters in an exclusive interview in Havana this week.
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Davila → turn → Havana
The island's top transportation official estimates passenger trips on public transportation would plunge 75% this year versus last.
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trips → estimate → last
Public bus service to the provinces from the capital Havana dropped from 419 daily in 2025 to just 11 this year, he said.
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he → drop → 11
Bus routes island-wide have been slashed from over 100 to just 21.
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routes → slash → 21
Inter-urban transportation — a mainstay for Cuban workers — would fall 90%, he said.
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he → fall → workers
"These are families that can't move around, people who can't visit their sick loved ones, others who can't get to a hospital," he said.
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he → move → hospital
Even domestic freight transport is expected to fall to around 20 million tonnes this year, Rodriguez Davila said, less than a third of the 70 million tonnes moved across the country last year.
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Davila → expect → country
The US says the now nine-month-long fuel blockade and recent beefed-up sanctions are necessary to upend Cuba's government, which it calls inept and corrupt.
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it → say → which
Cuba and the United Nations have called the blockade illegal and a violation of the human rights of all Cubans.
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Cuba → call → Cubans
While tension soars between governments, Cubans have turned to hitchhiking, impromptu carpooling and, increasingly, far pricier private transportation.
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Cubans → soar → hitchhiking
Electric options have also flourished, the minister said.
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minister → flourish → ?
"It's what we have to work with, but it comes with a high investment cost," he said, noting that such vehicles are often twice the price of those that utilize gas or diesel.
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that → have → gas
Rodriguez Davila says Cuba now has 150,000 electric cars, bikes and tricycles, double the number in 2025 and around 15% of the total one million vehicles in Cuba.
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Cuba → say → Cuba
The actual proportion of electric vehicles is likely far higher, he said, given the large numbers of unregistered plug-in cars and bikes, and the prohibitively high price of running a car on gas or diesel.
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he → say → gas
By August, 40% of vehicle imports were electric, he said, up from just 3.5% in January 2025, thanks to import incentives that waive or reduce taxes for electric-powered cars and bikes.
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that → say → cars
"Electric vehicles have increased more quickly than the supply of renewable energy," the minister said.
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minister → increase → energy
Cuba is scrambling to construct solar-charging stations for vehicles, to move soaring demand from the decrepit, mostly fuel-fired electrical grid to the sun.
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Cuba → scramble → sun
Rodriguez Davila said the transportation ministry had just purchased 60 solar charging stations to be distributed countrywide.
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ministry → say → stations
Examples abound across Cuba of experiments that have ended in success, and failure.
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that → abound → success
Transmed, a state enterprise, will soon inaugurate a fleet of cargo vans and charging stations that will move medicines to pharmacies throughout Havana without using hard-to-source fuel.
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that → inaugurate → fuel
But even on a government-led press tour, not everything was running like clockwork.
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everything → lead → clockwork
At one stop, dozens of yellow electric tricycles owned by a state company sat idle in a parking garage because there was no electricity to charge them.
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dozens → own → them
Frustrated taxi drivers vented.
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drivers → vent → ?
The minister grimaced.
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minister → grimace → ?
"These are the problems we face," he said.
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he → face → ?
The Aporia
