Word: transantiago
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Amid the apartment blocks and flyovers of the Chilean capital, Monica Eyzaguirre joins the snaking line of people at a bus stop, unfolds her newspaper and prepares for a long, long wait. "I hate Transantiago with every bone in my body," she says of the city's widely despised new transit system, watching a bus heaving with passengers trundle towards her down a congested road. "I used to take one bus to work and now I have to take three. It's made the lives of millions of people more difficult and more miserable...
...government had planned to modify the system but, nearly a year on, it has only succeeded in botching the job. One transport minister has been sacked and another is picking up the pieces, as the transit system is losing over $1 million a day. Transantiago - possibly the most hated word in the Chilean lexicon - is a classic case of a good idea wrecked in the implementation...
...Meanwhile, the metro, the jewel in Transantiago's crown, is creaking under the strain of twice as many passengers as before. "We used to be proud of our metro," says student Andres Carrera as he shuffles on to a crowded platform. "Now we just make jokes about...
...problem is exacerbated by the city's fragmented government structure. Santiago has over 30 mayors, one for each of its districts. With no single executive office in charge of the city as a whole, the job of implementing Transantiago has fallen to the national government. Imagine President George W. Bush getting bogged down in rewiring the New York City mass transit system, and you get the idea...