Government plans to raise public transportation fares<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Intercity land and sea transportation tariffs will increase by
\nbetween 10 and 20 percent due to the soaring oil prices, a
\nminister says.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said on Tuesday
\nthe increase in transportation fares was essential as
\ntransportation providers could not compromise on the safety of
\npassengers, while the fuel price increase had caused an increase
\nin the prices of spare parts.<\/p>\n
Hatta said the government was examining a proposal from the
\nAssociation of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), which had
\ndemanded a 40 percent increase.<\/p>\n
\"The Organda proposal is a bit high. But, (the increase) must
\nbe between 10 to 20 percent,\" he said after attending
\na plenary session at the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).<\/p>\n
Hatta said the government considered the land and sea
\ntransportation fares increase inevitable as transportation
\ncompanies must renew their fleet in a bid to ensure the safety of
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
Since the government announced the fuel price increase in
\nMarch, public transportation fares have remained unchanged,
\nexcept for taxi fares, Hatta said.<\/p>\n
\"The rising international oil prices have led to an increase
\nin the price of transportation spare parts. If we don't raise the
\nfares, there will be a lot of accidents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The minister added that the government would also adjust
\nthe ceilings on transportation tariffs.<\/p>\n
\"They are supposed to raise the fares every six months,\" Hatta
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The prevailing tariff scheme sets a floor price of Rp 69 per
\npassenger per kilometer, while the highest price is Rp 80, or
\nbelow 20 percent to over 20 percent of the operational costs,
\nHatta said.<\/p>\n
The government will discuss Organda's demand with
\ntransportation stakeholders, including the Indonesia Consumers
\nFoundation (YLKI) and transportation councils.<\/p>\n
\"We would like to listen to their aspirations. But we will
\nalso take into consideration people's economic condition,\" Hatta
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The government is responsible for the tariffs of intercity
\nand inter-province transportation systems while regional
\nadministrations handle tariffs for regional public transportation
\nsystems.<\/p>\n
The government provided a land transportation subsidy, in the
\nform of fiscal incentives on import duties and taxes in March
\nfollowing the fuel price increase.<\/p>\n
It expected these incentives to enable land transportation
\noperators to slash their operational costs by 5 percent and
\nprevent them from raising their fares by more than 10 percent to
\noffset the impact of the recent fuel price increase.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-plans-to-raise-public-transportation-fares-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}