abc200 in usa??? No way He must have needed the gig in order to have performed in usa

abc didn't say you have a retrogressive mentality, I did. And it's true because if we where to follow suggestions from people like you we will never had gotten a metro in the first place nor a rail system , all of those who are much needed. Stop ignoring my reply s and attacking the weak posts of others and listen to what I got to tell you! SD de Guzman is a city on the move with a booming population and economy, this was the perfect time to build a metro!. I can just imagine the caotic traffic in avenues like Abraham Lincoln or Máximo Gómez if the first line wasn't ever built. More pollution, and people getting long and late to get to their jobs!.

Fair point - cost to each Dominican is 158 dollars for the capital spend.
Assumes first two lines 1.58 billion.
Gross National Income per person is 4000 dollars.
If its a loan then 10 % would be fair repayment per year for the capital spend.
about 15 dollars per person per year.
Equating to two bottles of rum.
If poillution, congestion, import of gasoline and cars are all reduced it may be very worthwhile.
Also if business, tourism etc. are attracted to the city business tax revenues may well cover cost.
Of course during construction those that have jobs in this phase they would not otherwise have had and some the money paid out will come back to the government in tax, direct and indirect.
So even allowing for the loan during the construction phase the government may be 'in profit' from the funds loaned going to the government in taxes through the people working on the project and the contracts given to local suppliers.
This could mean more doctors, schools that could not otherwise have been constructed etc.
It is very complicated to find out who benefits and who looses and if there is a net gain. I suspect in this case there is a strong gain or rate of return on this project. Already daily usage is 100,000.
S.

Honest ABe;
Please be so kind so as to show us the diferent kind of electricity the DR subway uses ,as you say it is independent from the existing power.

What is more important to you ?jobs even if you have to take a bus to work or concho,or ride the subway? I would take jobss with invested money from abroad and don't have to pay it and at the same time generate tax revenue instead of the gvt having to subsidise it as they do the electric sector.
I did not say the METRO was not needed but priorities were interpolated.I rather feed my stomach first
pay my taxes and have the Metro built after my stomach is full with revenue collected from the municipality of STO DGO instead of nation wide as was NYC subway ,you did not see DC stepping into it.
Don't compare PR subway to DR when the GRINGOS built it for them and that is why it was so expensive, plus the people in PR could pay their way since must of them could afford it as they became retired from USA work force in the main land.

The agricultural sector is important too.
I would guess the loan was specific to the metro because France wanted its train builders etc. busy.
A loan would not have been granted for food or just job creation.
It should be a win win situation for both DR and France.
I would hope for a good pay-off from tourism, increased attractiveness of the business district etc. The Skytrain has definitely paid off for Bangkok.
S.

Do yourself a favor and read the entire study @:

http://www.globalfoundationdd.org/imagenes/content/file/GFDD_FUNGLODE_Report_on_Metro.pdf

INTRODUCTION

Santo Domingo’s rapid growth and largely informal public transportation system have left the city with
inadequate capacity, substantial congestion, and pollution and safety problems. The city’s system
inefficiencies and limited accessibility to job and population centers are typical in developing countries.

In response to these issues, the Dominican Republic is undertaking an extensive transportation
infrastructure, reform and integration project with ambitious spirit and urgency. The country’s efforts
are consistent with the policy guidelines set forth in Agenda 21 – to recognize the important role
transportation plays in poverty alleviation while mitigating its adverse externalities on health and the
environment. The country’s leadership is committed to playing its due part in international efforts to
achieve the sustainability objectives the global community has set forth – while ensuring that the
Dominican Republic remains on the path to growth and prosperity.

Metro Line One opened in February 2009 and is the first phase of Dominican President Leonel
Fernández’s “Master Plan” for sustainable transportation in the city. The Metro offers substantial time
savings and mobility to users and reduces congestion externalities in its corridor. In addition, there is a large a set of potential secondary benefits which the Metro has brought about – including pollution and accident reductions, local economic stimulus and technology transfer. But these are speculative in some cases and difficult to quantify. Generally speaking, much ridership growth is needed in the coming years for the combined benefits of the project to outweigh the tremendous costs.

The “pilot plan” of feeder bus routes currently being implemented at the northern end of Metro Line
One has great potential to enhance overall system ridership – thereby adding to time-savings,
accessibility and congestion reduction benefits – but there are a great many unknowns and risks inherent in the project. Besides general uncertainty about the effect on ridership, the biggest risk is unsuccessful negotiation with the existing bus operators in Santo Domingo. Existing operators have a tremendous interest in maintaining the status quo and they have the ability to greatly disrupt traffic in the city if they are provoked.

There are also risks inherent in making design changes to the existing transportation system of services and routes. Among these are a (real and perceived) degradation of service quality, imposition of transfers and indirect routing.

In the final analysis, it is clear that Metro Line One in Santo Domingo making progress towards the
sustainable development aims of the Dominican Government. With careful integration of the feeder bus system and a continued focus on achieving ridership growth, the benefits of the Metro – to the people of Santo Domingo and to the environment – will surely be enhanced.

METHODOLOGY
The analysis presented here relies on first-hand field work conducted in the summer of 2009 and January 2010 – including surveys of passengers, students, and local businesses –, a review of relevant transport economics literature, a review of Dominican media sources from 2004 to the present and interviews with experts and public officials.

Do yourself a favor and try to analyse all these rehtoric that amounts to nothing .Actions will speak for themselves 5 yrs from now,hoping all goes well and they get 1million people a day to ride it w/o gvt.support,will be a success and to create a good sourse of revenue.

The Metro should be completed, why create something and leave it half done. The next big project should be a physical BORDER with Haiti.

Time will tell but the World record of public transport systems of this type is good. I think it is a safe bet.
S,.