Cortázar announces "gradual and moderate" increase in Transantiago fares

SANTIAGO.- The Minister of Transportation, René Cortázar, announced today that beginning in 2009, the fare for Transantiago will no longer be fixed at 380 pesos and indicated that prices would be modified.

"We have had a fixed fare for almost two years and even though the drop in the price of fuel is going to help cut the deficit we have by 10%, sometime next year we are going to have to begin a gradual and moderate process to normalize the fares", Cortázar told Radio ADN.

The fare hike has no confirmed date, although the minister indicated that it would take place during the beginning of the next year, once the results of the projections for Transantiago are known.

The minister also stated that the Executive branch is trying to find a system to permanently finance the public transportation project in hopes of replacing the current, unstable manner of financing which has caused the functioning of the transportation system to come under questioning.

"We are trying to find a permanent financing system, we can't continue on like we have for the past 20 months. We want this situation to be regularized and we want to have an overall agreement to be reached concerning how the system will be financed", Cortázar asserted.