Panama Metro-pass card problems easing

THE WARMTH of the fire,placed  under the company providing access cards to Metro buses seems to be working. The encouragement came in the shape of heavy fines.

Sonda, the company responsible for handling the financial services section of the Metro, has said that it has sold more than 1.3 million Metro Bus cards since March 15, when the service expanded to cover all of Panama City.
Sonda Manager Daniel Guerra said that the company has opened 140 new kiosks where users can recharge their cards, and now has more than 1,000 such kiosks, many of which are open 24 hours a day.
Guerra said that, in recent weeks, 11 kiosks have been opened in Albrook, and the company plans to add another 100 in May and June.
The additional locations have been opened to respond to user complaints about long waits to recharge the cards.
The company also plans to expand the number of kiosks in Balboa, Albrook, Plaza 5 de Mayo, San Miguelito and Los Andes, as well as Chilibre, Versailles and Paitilla, where the facility is in the final phase of construction.