Troubles for Salvadoran bus operators

The bus is the means of public transportation in El Salvador, and the only option for most of the population. This makes the private bus operators an important force in the country. Those operators have a range of problems they are currently facing:

• The high price of gas and diesel fuel
• The negotiation of contracts by which the government subsidizes the industry
• The government's insistence that buses 25 years old and older be retired from service because of safety concerns
• Gangs which imposes "taxes" on certain routes and kill bus operators who don't pay.