Developing an equitable and sustainable mobility strategy for Havana

The particular political, economic and social conditions of the state of Cuba, in the Caribbean, have created unique possibilities for the development of a sustainable transport system in its capital city, Havana. This paper reports on the outcomes of a project to identify the possibilities and priorities for a long-term strategy for equitable and sustainable mobility for Havana. This involved almost 100 participants from Cuba and the UK in the 12 months from June 2013. Overall, the study found a high degree of agreement amongst the transport policy community as to the three key transport issues facing Havana: high level of unmet demand, lack of available financing, poor state of the transport system. Perhaps more surprisingly, it also produced a near consensus amongst the participants that any future policy should seek to increase the quality of the public transport system by: increasing levels of investment, securing efficiency savings, working ‘smarter’. However, it also found that this unified view is challenged by a desire for the car market to be deregulated, which would engender a very different policy approach. A strategic choice is needed now, to determine whether Havana follows a North American-style trajectory of rapid growth in car use or a less car-dependent pathway