Buses and trolleybuses
Consolidated as the main transportation network of Rosario "Rosario (Argentina)"), and seeing the deterioration of part of the fleet (mainly the MAN brand units, manufactured in 1952), the restructuring of the trolleybus lines begins.
Around 1965, the complementary lines I and L were eliminated, incorporating their units into the until then complemented ones: H and K, correspondingly.[11].
As of August 28, 1967, the routes of lines G and J are unified, creating the new trolleybus line M, with a route between the Bus Terminal "Terminal de Ómnibus Mariano Moreno (Rosario)") and the intersection of Avenida San Martín "Calle San Martín (Rosario)") and Muñóz Street.[11].
In 1969, a series of attacks that occurred on September 16, 17 and 18, which was later called the second Rosariazo, left a balance of 48 public transportation units completely destroyed; 11 of them trolleybuses (8 Fiat brand, 3 MAN brand).[11][13] The H trolleybus line has been out of circulation since then.
In 1970, 23 Mercedes-Benz / Kiepe Elektrik" units were acquired, models 1953 and 1954; 12 unused units from Buenos Aires, the remaining 11 used from the city of Mendoza. As of January 1971, the service of the H trolleybus line was restored, and the service of the M trolleybus line was reinforced, replacing larger units. antiquity.[11].
In 1973, the municipality proposed the possibility of creating new routes to replace bus lines that had ceased their services. The purchase of 40 new ZIU brand units from the Soviet Union and 40 used Fiat units from Uruguay was managed.[11] The Municipal Ordinance 1956/73 also contemplated the renumbering and modification of routes of all Rosario's passenger transport lines,[11][14] with the aim of rearranging them. Only two lines would make the nomenclature change: line 2, which became line 301, awarded to Transportes Progreso Automotor SRL, and line 217, which became line 303, awarded to the companies Nuestra Señora de Fátima SRL and Fisherton SRL.[14].
In 1976, after the coup d'état and once the de facto municipal mayor took office, all state participation in public transportation was reduced, canceling plans for the acquisition of units, suppressing the H trolleybus line (because it was considered deficient) and removing the entry of greater economic resources to the General Directorate of Trolleybuses.[11] The rearrangement is abandoned.[14].
On July 1, 1979, the trolleybus network was privatized, granting the concession to the company Martín Fierro SRL. The company replaces on-board collectors with prepaid magnetic card systems. It also re-bodies several obsolete units.[11].
At the beginning of 1980, the company rehabilitated the H trolleybus line, with an extended route to the España neighborhood and Hospitals, but pressure from the bus companies led to its closure again. The same year, the concessionaire resolved to extend the route of trolleybus line M to the north, thus absorbing the route of line H and creating in turn a long route from the northern end to the southern end of the city: the south-north trunk, similar to the one projected in 1954 during the management of the Rosario Transport Company.[11][15].
Martín Fierro SRL built its own units by scrapping trolleybuses (already in a state of obsolescence) and microbuses. In addition, it acquired 5 Soviet ZIU model 682b trolleybuses. In 1982 the company developed a technological advance for that time: the Electrobús,[16] an autonomous vehicle powered by batteries. Prototypes were known that circulated on line M experimentally for a short time, to be later seized by the Municipality of Rosario.[15].
Towards the end of 1983, after the return of democracy in the republic, Horacio Usandizaga assumed office. During his administration, public transport concessions, almost all of which have expired, will be ordered. In 1985, through decree 2336, a call for bids was carried out, which would end up being awarded to the same companies that had been providing transportation services. The awards were carried out between March 19 and 26, 1986. The new numbering soon began to be displayed on the vehicles of the awarded borrowers, except for some of them who would make the change much later or not at all.[14] New lines were also established, some of which were short-lived (lines 151, 162 and 163 "Línea de la Costa"). (Rosario)")) or they were never implemented as there were no interested parties in exploiting their routes (lines 149, 150, 152, 156, 159).[17].
In the 1990s, factors such as the application of franchises and free passes (half a student ticket, free for those over 69), new economic scenarios and lack of foresight led to the debacle of Rosario's public transport "Rosario (Argentina)"). On November 30, 1990, the municipality declared the expiration of the concession of line 104 to the company Expreso Alberdi SA. Then in 1992 the line was awarded to the company 9 de Julio SRL (provider of interurban services), having a similar purpose. After being awarded again to another borrower, 20 de Junio SRL, it was abandoned as it was considered unprofitable.[14].
Similar situations would cause the disappearance of several urban public transport lines, such as: 104, 105, 106 "Line 106 (Rosario)"), 108, 109, 111, 114 "Ronda del Centro Line (Rosario)"), 119, 124, 147, 148, 151, 155, 158, 160, 161 "South Link Line (Rosario)"), 162 and 163 "Coast Line (Rosario)").[14].
[18].
On December 19, 1996, the Municipal Council approved decree 12548/96 where the municipal Executive was empowered to call for public bidding to hire a consulting firm to carry out a comprehensive study of the system. On September 5, 1997, the mayor awarded the tender to the Systra-Atec consortium. On June 22, 1998, the consultant delivered the report.[19][20] On July 28, 1998, the report prepared by the consortium was sent to the Council. Between November of the same year and March of 1999, proposals for specifications and proposals for ordinances were sent to the Council to regulate the new transportation system. On April 2, 2000, the Ministry of Public Services issued a call for public bidding for the concession of the new urban passenger transportation system. The exploitation proposal consisted of three groups of transport lines each operated by a company or a group of companies:
• - Group 1 would be in charge of 2 trunk lines (one trunk fed with 9 neighborhood lines and the other trunk with 5 neighborhood lines), 3 express lines (one in the northern corridor and the other two in the southern corridor) and 4 conventional lines;
• - Group 2 would be in charge of 4 trunk lines (one trunk fed with 3 neighborhood lines, another with 6 neighborhood lines, another with 4 neighborhood lines and the other with 3 neighborhood lines), 4 conventional lines and 1 express line;
• - and Group 3 would be in charge of 2 trunk lines (with 3 feeder lines each), 6 conventional lines, 2 express lines and trolleybus line K.[21][22].
On August 18, 2000, the deadline for the sale of specifications ended. The group of bidders was constituted as follows:
• - Group Martín Fierro.
• - Group COTAL.
• - Group General Belgrano Company.
• - Group Las Delicias and Molino Blanco.
• - Group Plaza.
• - Group Transport Mariano Moreno.
• - Group Company Luján.
On September 8, 2000, the mayor of Rosario, Hermes Binner, opened the envelopes. Of the seven bidders who acquired the specifications, only four presented the envelopes with their respective offers:.
• - Martín Fierro Group (associated with COLCAM, Mercedes-Benz dealer), which bid on the north-south corridor.
• - Grupo Manuel Belgrano (associated with the transport company Ideal San Justo), which bid on the north-south, east-west and southwest corridors.
• - Group COTAL (associated with the bodybuilder La Favorita), which bid on the southwest corridor.
• - Group Las Delicias (associated with the Ugarte bodybuilder), which bid on the southwest corridor.
After various modifications to the project, around 2001 the then Secretary of Public Services Miguel Lifschitz announced the postponement of the bidding process for 180 or 220 days to then resume its analysis. One of the determinants of this fact would have been the expiration of the concession to the business group COTAL[23] on lines 112 "Line 112 (Rosario)"), 126 "Line 126 (Rosario)"), 127 "Line 127 (Rosario)"), 129 "Line 129 (Rosario)"), 130 "Line 130 (Rosario)"), 131 "Line 131 (Rosario)"), 132 "Line 132 (Rosario)") and 147&action=edit&redlink=1 "Line 147 (Rosario) (not yet drafted)"), leaving in doubt the ability of the bidding groups to continue with the investments, added to the decline in the number of transport users. public.[24].
In July 2001, the Municipality of Rosario, through its newsletter Rosario Informa (year 5, number 27, July/August 2001) published the "Rosario Transportation Recovery Plan", where the Secretariat of Public Services reported the measures that were adopted to improve the service, among them:[25].
• - Renovation of 31 1988 and 1989 model units for replacement by newer units.
• - Starting June 30, 2002, 40 1990 model units are put out of circulation for replacement by newer units.
• - Addition of 28 units to the system, raising the total number of them from 585 to 613 in circulation.
• - Incorporation of 12 more units into the system, raising the total amount to 625.
• - Sanction of 991 violation reports issued during the months of April and May.
• - Signing of an agreement (May 14, 2001) with the Institute of Transportation Studies of the National University of Rosario to carry out a technical audit on urban transportation and distribution mechanism of the prepaid magnetic stripe card system.
• - Carrying out accounting audits in all borrowing companies in order to verify their economic-financial situation, destination of the income produced and contributions to the state.
• - Distribution among borrowing companies of the Transportation Compensation Fund established by Ordinance 7099/2000 and Ordinance 7157/2000, made up of what was received as a transportation inspection fee, added to the collection for the metered parking system and the surplus of 35 cents per trip for use of the fair exchange system.
• - Application of the payment system with fair exchange in all urban passenger transport units, as of May 28, 2001.
• - Free telephone line application 0800 888 4188 for claims and information 24 hours a day, every day of the week.
• - Holding meetings with neighborhood associations of the city in each of the six districts to gather concerns and proposals.
• - Start-up of the Urban Passenger Transport Monitoring Commission.
On November 26, 2001, Mayor Hermes Binner signed decree (made official a day later) number 2110 that "repeals the bidding process and allows for the return of bid guarantees to the (three) companies", thus ending the bidding for the new transportation system after considering it unviable in the short and medium term.[25].
After a new tender started in 2004,[27] and its modifications,[28] on December 7, 2006, the then mayor Miguel Lifschitz announced to the future operators of the system:[29][30]
[31].
• - Rosario Bus: groups 1 and 2.
• - Las Delicias: group 3.
• - EMTR SA (La Mixta): group 4.
• - SEMTUR: group 5.
In January 2009, and after a new critical episode in local public transportation [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][39] the Municipality of Rosario "Rosario (Argentina)") determined the expiration of the concession of the company Las Delicias, distributing the service of its lines in operation to the operators SEMTUR, Rosario Bus and La Mixta.[40][41].
On September 27, 2010, the new contactless card payment method (MIFARE technology) DESFire EV1 was presented to society. It would begin to operate as a pilot test on July 14, 2011, with marketing and mass use beginning on November 23, 2011.[42].
On February 12, 2012, the use of Exclusive Lanes for Public Passenger Transportation in Rosario began in accordance with Ordinance 8864/2011[43] approved by the Municipal Council. These are spaces on the road reserved for the exclusive circulation of public transport, such as buses, busy taxis, busy vans, school transport, and in emergencies, ambulances and fire and police vehicles.