51.   Traffic in Caracas, the capital, was light but picking up at dawn Tuesday, as private buses, taxi lines and the Metro Subway operated normally.

52.   Workers also feared they would lose their jobs if private bus companies started driving city routes.

53.   When licenses were given out, the government did not specify special training for drivers, said S.L. Dua, a private bus owner.

54.   Workers feared they would lose their jobs when private bus companies started driving city routes or their social benefits if they transferred to work for the private companies.

55.   He owns several companies including a private bus line.

56.   Hundreds of irate commuters burned the private bus after it ploughed through vehicles in a busy eastern district commercial centre.

57.   However, private buses avoid operating in sparsely populated rural areas where people wait hours for a bus.

58.   A private bus and a police car were also hit by machine-gun fire and two constables were wounded, police said.

59.   Cars jammed the roads and private buses waited for custom.

60.   But the Zeba private bus company hardly needs to advertise at all, so great is its reputation for safe travel, even through war-torn Bosnia.