TRANSPORT OWNERS BEGIN LOWERING TRANSPORT FARES: PRESIDENT

Jakarta, January 15 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said a number of public transport vehicles had begun to lower their rates following the cuts in the premium gasoline and diesel oil prices on Thursday.
"I hope this condition can be improved further in order to increase the people's purchasing power," the president said at a press conference after a tour of various parts of Jakarta to observe the impact of the fuel oil price cuts.
The president said he had contacted a number of regional administration heads to ask about the lowering of transport fares after the fuel oil prices were cut.
"This morning, I called on the mayor of Padang to cut transport fares there. I also did the same thing with Bogor's mayor. I checked with the Land Transportat Owners Organization (Organda), and I found that it has lowered its tariffs," the president said.
He said the fare for public transportation in Bogor, West Java, had been lowered from Rp2,500 to Rp2,000 per passenger.
The president said the train tariff at the Kota railway station had been cut by 8 percent as well but the tariff for electric trains had not yet been lowered on Thursday.
"The railway station chief said he was to lower the tariff by 10 percent tomorrow," he said.
He said he had also checked transport fares at the Pulogadung intercity bus terminal in East Jakarta.
"Passengers who wanted to go to Madura enjoyed a cut from Rp200,000 to Rp180,000 per person," he said adding that those going to Yogyakarta also paid a lower price as the fare had been reduced from Rp175,000 to Rp160,000 per passenger.
The government on Thursday cut the prices of subsidized premium gasoline and diesel oil from Rp5,000 per liter to Rp4,500 per liter and from Rp4,800 to Rp4,500 per liter respectively.