Eriliza, i do not recall saying i did, or did not, like the metro. i said , however, that i refuse to accept the projection that it will carry 1 million riders in 10 years. if you believe that it will carry the same amount of people as the Washington , DC, Metrorail does, then more power to you. i refuse to accept it, based on the fact that i have spent a fair amount of time studying the dynamics of urban transportation, and am in a position to doubt the figures. whether or not i am Dominican does not preclude me from offering an opinion. this is still the internet, remember?

Dreadlocks, I support your words and I am a Dominican by blood and soil. It is evident that you perfectly know what you are talking about. By the way, I am in the construction industry.

(Beautiful young lady --well, if that actually is your picture-- no hard feelings, right?)

thank you, PeRod. if you look at public transportation in cities, the carrying capacity depends largely on the area served, first of all. Washington DC is home to 172 foreign missions, the IMF, the World Bank, all the US government offices, several universities, and numerous hospitals..the subway line has 109 miles of rail, which means it has a massive catchment corridor. also, it has 74 stations, which adds to pickup and discharge capability. the second thing is that there is no alternatine transportation besides taxicabs, if you have no car. taxicabs in the USA are not like carritos in the DR. just opening the door to get in costs you 2.50US. in the DR, the carrito is a prefect alternative; it is just as cheap as the metro, and it stops on demand. with a subway train, you still have to walk to work when you get off. so, when it is pouring with rain, people will still choose the carrito. Santo Domingo has 3 million people. to say that one in every three people will take the metro is crazy. what about the people who work in areas not served by the train? the effective catchment is half a mile from the nearest station; nobond walks a mile to catch a train, not when they can use carritos.

I worked on transit procurement projects for about a year and a half and there are subsidies for everything. The only profitable metro system in the world is in Singapore, so imagine the subsidies required for the SD Metro. Granted, they have managed to pull this off for a low price, but I'm not convinced about the U$700 million pricetag. It's probably closer to $1.5 billion, but still would be a remarkable price for 9 miles of rail, SCADA, infrastructure, rolling stock, etc.......like Dreadlocks said, the studies and analysis state that the Metro would not support the amount of passengers projected for the foreseeable future. Too many variables, too many unknowns and with Leonel keeping his mouth shut like McCain in the Hanoi Hilton regarding the real cost to the nation's coffers, this is adding up to be a disaster. However, I am hopeful that it's going to be of good use, which I do not doubt. The funniest phrase I heard was that PRDistas are going into the Metro and coming out PLDistas, lol....

By the way, I took that Gomez Ave route for years while I was down there and was hoping for a solution because traffic on that avenue is hellacious

If you are talking to me, yes that is me on my avatar picture and thank you for your compliment

Yes, Eriliza, I was talking about you. You are welcome.

Dreadlocks,

You are more than free to express your opinions throughout the world wide web. It is in everyone's reach, don't you think?

The reason why I asked you if you were Dominican was because I was curious about your nationality. No offense behind this nor I have ever meant that only Dominicans are allowed to opinionize on this website. So let me ask again (and answer if you are not offended any longer), are you?

Eriliza no offense here just curious, since you are beautiful, we all agree.

1.What would you be classified as ?
2.What is your background ?

If you mean nationality-wise, here are my answers.

1) I would be classified as Dominican
2) I would consider my background to be Hispanic and/or Latin American.

Thanks Eriliza, what are you mixed with, that is may exact question.?