Major General Sigfredo Fadul told reporters yesterday that the first month of the government’s fuel savings plan is showing positive results. According to the general, the alternate day of work for the “publicos” – the green and yellow roofed passenger cars that serve the general public along fixed routes- has eased traffic flow, and there have been evident fuel savings. Fadul also pointed out that there have been fewer assaults and robberies along the traffic routes over the last 30 days. Talking with Listin Diario editorial staff of, Fadul emphasized that the last month has been “very good”, and along with members of his staff, he explained that, so far, 14,000 cars have been registered in the plan and that shortly the remaining 3000 will be painted and enter service. Currently, the AMET people are working on identifying the routes that are being served in order to see which ones need more attention and which ones can operate with fewer vehicles. The AMET boss pointed out that it is only during the peak hours of early morning and late afternoon when there appears to be a shortage of public transportation. As one solution, the traffic cop chief suggested that it may be wise to have private and public offices opening at different times to ease the flow of traffic. Regarding the business of the so-called “pirates”, those un-official cars that service regular routes, but are not affiliated with any of the unions, Fadul told the Listin Diario people that he only has 300 officers working at any one time and they have to cover the National District and the province of Santo Domingo. Adding to the problem of enforcement is the need to place AMET agents at main intersections when the traffic lights are not working due to power outages.