Penza, 18 June 2012. PenzaNews. The protest, organized by the Komsomol activists of Penza against rising prices in public transport, was held on Sunday, June 17.

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Two groups of young people with paper and toy rabbit ears on their heads as a symbol of “a free rider” paid the bus fare with candy and handed out a special edition of the newspaper “Barricade” to other passengers.
According to the words of the secretary of Regional Committee of the Leninist Komsomol Youth Union Juliana Kotova, such an unusual theatrical act of the Komsomol members was an attempt to draw public attention to the problem of high fare in public transport and the lack of privileges for the students.

She said that the fare increase, which occurred on April 30, 2012, and caused civil discontent, had a negative impact on the categories of citizens with low-income, including students and pupils.

“Defending the residents of Penza from unreasonable increase of the fare, we also propagate upgrading public vehicles and growth of material well-being of drivers and ushers. We have specific proposals, but the authorities pursue a completely different purpose. Currently, municipal transport is suffering even greater losses because many residents prefer private taxi buses,” commented Juliana Kotova.

She added that the members of the Komsomol are going to continue such actions in the future.