Unionized taxi drivers are refusing to lower the fares on city transport that is overseen by the governmental OTTT, the transport regulatory organization. CONATRA drivers rejected the reduction that would have seen fares of RD$8 instead of the current RD$10. CONATRA vehicle owners were strong supporters of the previous administration, which equipped them with a new fleet of vehicles at a fixed cost, with the government picking up the tab for exchange rate discrepancies and allowing their imports practically tax free. CONATRA’s unionized fleets are now the predominant vehicles for transportation in the city and province of Santo Domingo after the cannibalization of the majority of OMSA bus units.
“The OTTT does not have storage capacity to retain the more than 71,000 CONATRA vehicles, and I challenge (them) to confiscate the vehicles,” said Antonio Marte, CONATRA’s president. Marte is the director of transport for the former ruling party, the PRD.
Another large union, FENATRANO, agreed to lower the fares from RD$10 to RD$8. Its leader, Juan Hubieres, said: “We will accept the price reduction, but if the problem is not resolved in two days, we will increase the fares to the past level.”
Representatives of a third union, CNTU, said they would announce their stance today.