After watching the following video, purportedly recorded in Cuba’s capital city of Havana, you’ll have a very good idea of what the phrase “packed like sardines” means when it comes to public transportation.
People are literally pushed and shoved on each other to fit as many passengers as possible, with some even jumping through the side windows – forget about safety and other such trivial considerations…
At least in Cuba, it’s not like the people can go out and buy a car and avoid public transportation, even if the government supposedly liberalized the market.
You see, four out of five people work for the state averaging just $20 a month when at the same time, the cost of vehicles is prohibitive, not only for Cubans, but even for your average Westerner in North America, Europe or Japan, as a subcompact model like the older generation Peugeot 206 retails for almost $80,000 (€58,000)!
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