FOR FEATURE STORY CUBA TRANSPORT, 2001-07-04 (photo)

Residents of Poblado de Santiago de las Vegas, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Havana, ride on a cargo truck that has been converted into a bus, July 4, 2001. From horse-drawn carts to 1950s Chevrolets, overcrowded sidecars to motorized bicycles, old military vans to a pair of Lada cars melded into one, anything goes on the roads of Cuba, a virtual living transport museum. With a shortage of cars and fuel across the island, especially since the collapse of their Soviet benefactor, Cubans have become the world's experts in inventing forms of transport and cadging lifts from the lucky few with vehicles. HK