On a hot afternoon in Havana, dozens of commuters formed a line at the entrance of the Havana Bay Tunnel, waiting for the Ciclobús to move them and their small vehicles through the underwater passage. The service has been operating for years, but during Cuba’s current fuel crisis it has become an increasingly important—often practical—way to cross the bay for work and daily errands, according to the Associated Press.
The bus is diesel-powered and can accommodate around 60 travelers, along with their vehicles. Its design includes a front seating section, with about half of the metallic frame left open as an area where cargo is carried through the tunnel. Riders board using a specialized ramp and stay with their bicycles or motorcycles for the duration of the trip, holding wall-mounted grab bars for balance; the AP report says bicycles and motorcycles are not allowed in the tunnel unless they are part of the Ciclobús setup.
Officials in Havana have also positioned the route as a time-saver compared with land travel. The AP report describes the Ciclobús as covering about 3 kilometers in around 15 minutes after boarding near the Havana Bay Tunnel in Old Havana, before passengers emerge in eastern Havana. By contrast, the alternative land route must skirt a large bay, requiring a roughly 16-kilometer trek through sparsely populated and poorly paved industrial port areas, the report said.
The AP report ties the shift in travel behavior to Cuba’s narrowing gasoline supplies. It says an energy blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January has forced Cuba to ration gasoline to only 20 liters (5 gallons) per vehicle through an appointment process that can take weeks or even months, halting public transportation. With fewer fuel-powered options available, Havana’s streets have been described as increasingly dominated by bicycles and small electric motorcycles, rather than cars.
For commuters, the Ciclobús also competes with shared taxis that still operate on longer, land-based routes that can pass through the tunnel. The AP report says the Ciclobús fare ranges from 2 to 5 Cuban pesos, depending on whether the rider transports a bicycle or a motorcycle, while a shared taxi ride from eastern neighborhoods to Old Havana via the tunnel can cost 1,000 Cuban pesos. The report also includes the context that a Cuban worker can earn about 7,000 Cuban pesos per month, underscoring the price gap between bus and taxi travel for many residents.
People interviewed by the AP described the Ciclobús as one of the few ways to maintain routines despite the fuel disruptions. Ingrid Quintana, a resident of East Havana who works in the older part of the city, told the AP she rides as a companion to her husband because there is no public transportation and she cannot afford a private taxi. The report also quotes Bárbaro Cabral, a 32-year-old gym teacher, saying most jobs are on the other side of the bay and that residents have to take the Ciclobús to get across.
The AP report places the bus’s renewed importance in Cuba’s longer history of coping with energy shortages. It says the Ciclobús is owned by Havana’s state-run transport company and emerged in the 1990s during the “Special Period” after the collapse of the Soviet Union left the island isolated. At the time, the report says, Fidel Castro distributed Chinese-made bicycles among the population, and over subsequent decades the tunnel bus lost some appeal as regular buses and shared taxis returned in more normal patterns—until the current crisis made it essential again.