Public Transport

Transport union leader Wilmer Cálix said the government must pay a pending compensation bonus to keep urban bus fares unchanged; without it, the sector will seek a fare increase to cover rising diesel and parts costs.

Jorge Lanza, a transport leader, says the sector pays over 18 billion lempiras (about $720 million) annually to extortionists and calls for stronger government strategies to combat the problem.

Juan Carlos Flores, shot by gunmen on a motorcycle on July 7 in Comayagüela, died at Hospital Escuela from his wounds; video of his final moments kneeling on the street went viral and drew national outcry.

National Police announced the arrest of a man suspected of killing a rapidito minibus driver in Tegucigalpa.

Rafael Medina, former head of Tegucigalpa's Chamber of Commerce, urged oil companies and transporters to pass falling global fuel prices to consumers quickly, noting that inflation jumped nearly 1.5 percentage points above year-ago levels partly because of earlier fuel-cost increases.

Transport operators say urban bus fares will remain at 13 lempiras despite recent fuel-price declines, citing other operating costs and a government subsidy three months in arrears.

An economist at Fosdeh argues that recent declines in diesel prices justify revising public transport fares that were raised months ago as a temporary measure tied to fuel costs.

Transport operators say they will not reduce urban bus fares in the capital until diesel and gasoline fall to L75 (about $3) per gallon, citing insufficient relief from current fuel-price declines.

Honduras's public-transport sector reports paying roughly 500 million lempiras (about $20 million) annually to criminal gangs, with some bus and taxi routes in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula now shuttered due to threats and attacks on drivers.

Transport leader Saúl Ventura says taxi operation permits have gone unrenewed for nine years and called for urgent updates to the sector's licensing documentation.

A motorcycle collided with a public bus in the Barandillas neighborhood of San Pedro Sula on Thursday, igniting both vehicles; the motorcycle driver suffered severe burns but was rescued by bystanders and the bus driver before firefighters arrived.

A judge in Tegucigalpa ordered two men held in pretrial detention for the murder of Juan Carlos Flores, a 24-year-old bus driver shot in Comayagüela on July 8; investigators suspect the killing stems from conflict between criminal organizations.

The head of Honduras's land-transport authority said the government may call taxi operators to negotiate a rollback of the L5 provisional fare increase granted during higher fuel prices, if pump prices continue to decline.