Higher fares for night buses

The chairman of the Organization of Owners of City Land Transportation (Organda), Aip Syaifudin, wants higher night fares for transit vehicles.

Public buses operating during night hours need special treatment to guarantee satisfaction for the drivers and passengers, as well as transit service officers, Aip was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying here yesterday.

Aip said that the fare for night operation should be increased by 20 percent.

According to him, the owners are required to pay the drivers and other related staff more money on the night service.

If the public feels that the fares are too expensive, Aip said, the government can offer certain types of subsidies to cover the extra funds.

"It can be in form of free tickets for diesel fuel," he suggested. "If there is no such a subsidy, the owners will suffer a substantial loss because night-shift passengers are limited in number." (bsr)