The Transport Department (OTTT) is increasing bus fares RD$2 for urban (National District) routes, RD$3 for suburban (National District – Santo Domingo Province) routes and RD$5 for inter-urban or inter-provincial routes, according to a report in Diario Libre. Public cars or “conchos” in Greater Santo Domingo will continue to charge RD$10 since more than 60% of these vehicles run on LPG. The only car routes that will increase their fares are in Santiago and La Vega because their routes are up to 30 kilometers long. With this decision the OTTT satisfies requests from transport unions. However, the date for the application of the new fares has not been decided although some unions had planned to start increasing their fares today. OTTT Director German Pena Guadalupe explained that the institution would issue a resolution once all transport unions representatives – 17 in total – have signed the document. Meanwhile, El Caribe reports that the new fares become effective at 6:00 am today. The decision was adopted after a meeting between the OTTT Director and transport union leaders Ramon Perez Figuereo and Juan Hubieres, presidents of CNTU and FENATRANO, respectively. According to Listin Diario, Figuereo and Hubieres agreed to increase or decrease the fares by one peso automatically, every time fuel prices vary by RD$15 per gallon. The OTTT measure was immediately opposed by the Federation of Dominican Students, despite the fact that fares for “conchos” will remain the same. The students are proposing a meeting between government officials and the authorities of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) to discuss the possibility of subsidizing students’ transportation or introducing reduced fares for students.