Key facts
- Public transportation is at one of its lowest points of all time.
- Passenger trips on public transportation are estimated to plunge 75% this year versus last.
- Inter-urban transportation is expected to fall 90%.
- Domestic freight transport is expected to fall to around 20 million tonnes this year.
- Cuba has 150,000 electric vehicles, bikes, and tricycles.
- 40% of vehicle imports were electric by August.
Cuba's public transportation system is experiencing an unprecedented collapse due to a US fuel blockade, according to Transportation Minister Eduardo Rodriguez Davila. The minister stated that traditional public transport is at one of its lowest points ever, with passenger trips expected to fall 75% this year. Inter-urban transport is projected to decline by 90%, and domestic freight by two-thirds. The US maintains that the sanctions are necessary to pressure Cuba's government, while Cuba and the UN deem the blockade illegal and a human rights violation. In response, Cubans are increasingly relying on hitchhiking, carpooling, private transport, and electric vehicles, the number of which has doubled since 2025. By August, electric vehicles constituted 40% of imports, up from 3.5% in January 2025, though the rapid increase in electric vehicles outpaces the supply of renewable energy infrastructure.