OTTT operation gets lower fares

[NewsWhore]

After the Land Transport Office (OTTT) carried out a full-scale operation that included AMET officers and other inspectors, and threatened to revoke operator's licenses in the National District and in Santo Domingo province, drivers seemed to react. Resolution 127-08 calls for fare reductions of between RD$2 and RD$5 on shared taxi or "concho" routes. The inspectors were accompanied by soldiers with assault rifles posted along San Cristobal Avenue at the corner of Tiradentes in the La Fe area, from the early morning hours, and where more than a dozen cars were stopped for nearly two hours because their drivers were charging the RD$15 fare. The action led to a protest by Fenatrano drivers on the la Agustina-UASD route who said that they were against the resolution due to the high prices of parts and tires. There were occasional moments of tension when arguments became loud and heated, and police reinforcements were brought in, because drivers resisted having their vehicles seized. In the middle of all of this the directors of the operation sometimes gave the impression that they did not know what to do and were seen as vacillating and indecisive. An AMET colonel told them, "We are here to carry out your orders." Leonardo Rosado Suriel, the person in charge, said that 50 people from the OTTT were covering the whole country. At the bus stop for the south, at Duarte and 27 de Febrero, drivers on the route between Santo Domingo and Barahona and Neyba, affiliated with the Conatra transport union were obliged to return RD$5 and RD$10 to their passengers. On the other hand, Rosado Suriel reported that it was different for drivers on the routes to San Juan de la Maguana, Bani, San Pedro de Macoris, Hato Mayor and Higuey, where drivers were charging fares in accordance with the resolution.

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