Laguna Metrobús: from emblematic project to urban nuisance

From the public's perspective, what was supposed to be the most ambitious project to provide a decent, quality transportation service in the region has become a nuisance, materially resulting in an infrastructure that, far from serving any practical purpose, hampers daily mobility while time, vandalism, and neglect consume it.

The issue of the Metrobús or Laguna Bus is also a nuisance for current government officials and government workers. What was initially synonymous with bombastic announcements of public works and the arrival of new, modern buses that never materialized has become a pending issue that no one wants to talk about today.

More than a decade later, the state government is seeking to finalize the financial commitment it has maintained since then with Banobras, the institution that provided funding for the initial works, in order to transfer responsibility for the infrastructure to the Municipality. The municipality claims to have its own transportation modernization plan, which has so far only been implemented with emergency permits to make up for the lack of trucks on routes whose concessionaires have ceased to operate, either due to unprofitability or due to legal issues with the authorities, as some are facing amparo lawsuits against the cancellation of concessions attempted during the previous administration.

The origin of the Metrobús dates back to the campaign of Enrique Peña Nieto, who, as president, formalized presidential commitment CG-116 for the modernization of transportation in La Laguna, in response to the La Laguna Metropolitan Area Rapid Bus System project "BRT Corredor Troncal de La Laguna," which was presented by the state government through the PROTRAM Consultative Working Group (GTC).

This resulted in the allocation of the first resources through the 2014-2016 Metropolitan Fund, amounting to 623 million pesos, when the governments of Coahuila and Durango announced the project, although years later the neighboring state, then governed by Jorge Herrera Caldera, disassociated itself from the project.

These resources are added to those from the National Infrastructure Fund (Fonadin) of Banobras for 465.3 million pesos, as well as contributions from the State and Municipality, for the construction of the Trunk Corridor Section 3 along the Torreón-Matamoros boulevard, from the Francisco Sarabia causeway to Múzquiz Street, works that along with other key components of the project remained unfinished.

In addition to the three sections of the trunk corridor, which included a 25.5-kilometer extension between Torreón and Matamoros, including bus stops, the project also included other infrastructure, such as the Mieleras and Nazas terminals with storage yards and workshops; the provision of transport units; the construction and equipment of a control center; and the upgrade of the control and collection system.

However, the allocation of resources for its continuity was halted by cuts to the La Laguna Metropolitan Fund, after which local governments also stopped contributing and began to abandon the idea of ​​providing decent, quality public transportation, blaming the Federation for the cuts.

Finally, the Metrobús was caught in the populist rhetoric of the self-proclaimed "fourth transformation" in June 2019, when former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador eliminated any possibility of bringing the project to fruition in a show of hands during a massive event held in Gómez Palacio, where hundreds voted against the proposal and approved the Healthy Water for La Laguna program (which, four years later, has not been completed either).

Under the federal government of Claudia Sheinbaum, the state of Coahuila, through the Undersecretariat of Transportation, Mobility, and Infrastructure, attempted to obtain funding by submitting a proposal seeking to build on what had already been done, but it was unsuccessful.

Today, the Metrobús or Bus Laguna is a bad memory for Torreón residents who have to use public transportation in their daily lives. They have to board old and in poor condition buses that break down mid-journey, endure high temperatures, mistreatment by drivers, loud music, delays on routes, and many other mishaps, while authorities assure that modernization will finally arrive and the concessionaires are left with the responsibility of providing the service.