In his statement to our newspaper, Musa Çaktır, Deputy Secretary General and Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Bus Drivers Federation (TOFED), stated that they could not afford the transportation costs.
As the Eid al-Adha approached, people started to make plans to visit relatives to see their hometowns and relatives, but the increasing costs and ticket prices make both bus companies and citizens ponder.
Bus companies were most affected by the ever-increasing fuel prices due to the bad course of the economy.
As Milli Gazete, we examined the conditions of the transportation sector in Istanbul Esenler Bus Terminal, where there was a serious movement due to the holiday.
Musa Çaktır, Deputy Secretary General and Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Bus Drivers Federation (TOFED), told the National Newspaper about the effects of increasing diesel prices and costs on bus transportation services.
"TICKET PRICE DOES NOT COVER THE COST"
Explaining that bus companies were heavily affected by the economic crisis in the country, Musa Çaktır said, "Can you compare the fuel prices in 2021 with today's fuel prices? Just at this time last year, on the eve of the feast, the liter of fuel was 6.7 TL, and now it is 30 TL. The round trip to Mardin was 1,500 km, using a thousand liters of diesel on the road, which was equivalent to 6,700 TL. But this year, we burn 30 thousand TL worth of fuel on the same road. We spend such money only on fuel. When we add the wear and spare parts of buses, the personnel working in them, the repairs we will make, bridges and highways, the round trip of a bus in 1,500 kilometers costs approximately 37,000 liras. Can we cover this cost with passengers? No, we cannot afford it. We are aware of the fact that the economic structure is very distressed and the purchasing power of people has decreased."
“WE ARE NOT A NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION”
Musa Çaktır stated that transportation costs have increased significantly compared to last year.
"The purpose of bus companies is to help passengers travel from one place to another. We are not a non-governmental organization, we are a business, we do business, but besides this, we are considered everything of the country. In the field of tourism, we have always continued to provide services to people when people are longing for each other, and students go to their schools. We are the service industry and we have to do it. We take into account the current market value given by the government and our expenses. In addition, we try to keep our prices as reasonable as possible by considering the purchasing power of the people. At this time last year, the cost of going from one place to another was 300 TL, and now it is 450 TL. When we consider all the times, if we consider that there is a 187 percent increase, we can see that our price increase is at a reasonable level, he added.