More and more minibus unions are instating travel insurance programs on their routes. Depending on the length of the trip, passengers are being charged RD$2-RD$5 extra on the travel ticket. Some passengers feel this service should be optional, but most are happy to pay for the insurance. The insurance provides coverage for medicines and even funeral expenditures for up to RD$40,000. Seguros La Antillana provides the coverage on routes to Higuey, La Romana, San Pedro, Hato Mayor, El Seibo and Miches in the East. Ruddy Rafael Rodríguez, adjunct secretary of the Sindicato de Choferes de la Provincia de La Altagracia and one of the promoters of the new service, also told El Siglo that they had purchased two ambulances to service the routes.
