With the government set to increase fuel prices, the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) says it will raise public transportation fares by up to 30 percent, despite a potential public outcry.

'The fuel-price hike will greatly affect the transportation sector, as fuel accounts for 40 percent of our operational costs. We will certainly increase the fares if fuel prices rise,' head of Organda's Jakarta branch, Soedirman, told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Tuesday.

He said the fares for public minivans and minibuses, which are currently Rp 2,000 (20 US cents), would be expected to rise to either Rp 2,500 or Rp 3,000.

Public transportation operators in Depok, West Java, a Jakarta satellite city, proposed a higher increase of between 52 percent and 60 percent. Secretary of the Depok branch of Organda, Tondo Wiyono, said his organization was currently drafting a proposal and that it would consult with the Transportation Agency in order to get approval from Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail.

'We want an increase of between Rp 1,300 to Rp 1,500 per passenger for short and long distances. We don't want to suffer any losses because we are not state-owned firms. This is pure business and we want to make a profit,' he told reporters.

The fares for public transportation in Depok are now between Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,500 depending on the distance. To date, there are over 3,000 public transportation vehicles serving 27 routes.

Deni Sabda, a minivan driver on route number D03 plying between Parung and Depok, said he wanted a fare increase if the government realized its plan to raise the price of subsidized fuel.

However, passengers expressed unhappiness over Organda's plan to increase the fares.

Ibnu Akmal, a resident of Cinere in Depok, said he understood that the fuel subsidy should be channeled to other useful programs, but he could not hide his dismay over the plan to increase bus fares.

'Deep down, I object to the plan to increase fares. I can only hope that if the fuel prices rise, there will also be a salary increase,' he told the Post.

The employee of a private company said inefficient public transportation routes forced him to take three minivans and one minibus to reach his workplace in Pondok Indah in South Jakarta.

He was sure the fare increase would not bring any changes regarding the service to passengers.

'The poor service of public transportation in Jakarta has not changed. I frequently see passengers falling victim to pickpockets while drivers do nothing to stop the thugs who enter the buses and threaten passengers,' Ibnu said.

Sarfina, 27, another frequent passenger, said she could not imagine the public transportation fares in Depok reaching Rp 5,000. The sales promotion girl in the ITC Depok shopping center was considering using a motorcycle to travel from her home in Parung to her workplace.

'My salary is yet to increase, but the public transportation fares will increase. I will have to think hard about getting to work,' she said, adding that her basic salary was only Rp 600,000.

Protests over the government's plan to cut fuel subsidies have spread throughout the country since Monday. The subsidy cut will increase the prices of Premium gasoline to Rp 6,500 per liter from Rp 4,500 per liter and subsidized diesel to Rp 5,500 per liter from Rp 4,500.

The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono first unveiled the plan to cut the fuel subsidy in May 2012 to ease the country's balance of payments.

The President reintroduced the plan in April, saying that the government was also preparing an assistance program for low-income households affected by the price increase.

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