Penza, 17 February 2014. PenzaNews. Representatives of the Penza regional branch of the Liberal Democratic Party held a rally against the increase of private-owned bus fare from 14 to 17 rubles.

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The protest action took place in the square named after F. Dzerzhinsky. The participants were holding banners reading: “We are against 17 rubles,” “Should students walk now?” “Bus is not a luxury but a means of transportation,” “Minibuses, buses... What else is to become more expensive?”

Many passers-by expressed their support to the activists receiving the latest edition of the regional newspaper “LDPR Penza.”

“We realize that the increase in passenger fare in large private-owned buses from 14 to 17 rubles does not exceed 17,17-ruble limit established by the regional department of rate control. Nevertheless, such sharp 3-ruble price increase, which is over 20%, will be very noticeable for socially disadvantaged groups like students and pensioners,” the deputy coordinator of the Penza regional branch of the Liberal Democratic Party Pavel Kulikov commented for news agency “PenzaNews.”

In his opinion, the best option in this situation would be a gradual fare increase.

“We believe that it would be appropriate raising fares in one or a maximum two rubles every six months, as well as compensating the loss of private carriers from the city budget,” the agency interlocutor concluded.