19% hike in transport fares
Published:Wednesday | October 11, 2023 | 12:09 AM
Commuters are to face a 19 per cent fare increase, effective next Sunday, October 15.
Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for transport, made the announcement yesterday in a statement to Parliament.
Vaz also announced that transport operators would receive a further 16 per cent increase, effective April 2024.
The transport minister told his parliamentary colleagues that the fare hike has been approved as bus and taxi operators had not been granted a fare increase since 2021, when a 25 per cent increase was approved.
He reminded the country that, in 2021, the operators only received a 15 per cent increase, pending approval for the remaining 10 per cent which was not granted up to this latest review.
Vaz said that consideration was given to the fact that transport operators faced increased operating costs over several years.
The Public Transport Operators Steering Committee, comprising several ministries, agencies, transport operators’ associations and the opposition spokesman on transport, crafted a fair and equitable fare adjustment proposal, according to Vaz.
APPROVAL
The proposal received the nod from Cabinet.
Last month, Egerton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services, one of the island’s largest transportation groups, said his members were anticipating an increase close to 120 per cent.
Newman had argued that anything under 60 per cent would be unacceptable.
Yesterday, Vaz said the Steering Committee was also assessing various operational challenges, including the “lamentable condition of transportation infrastructure throughout the island, enforcement matters, and the state of road markings and signage”.
Said the minister: “As I am serious about creating a public transportation system we can all be proud of, in my quest to partner with the PPV operators, the ministry is, through the Transport Authority, currently undertaking a PPV driver/conductor platform; 3,582 participants have registered and, to date, 450 have completed the programme.”
He stressed that he was pushing to ensure that operators are adequately trained in customer service, safety, and other areas of core competencies.
Vaz indicated that this was critical to improving the levels of service provided to the commuting public.
It was also announced that the Transport Authority is currently working to establish a PPV Drivers’ Register. This register will assist in monitoring the behaviour of PPV drivers.
“It will also serve as the pool for qualified PPV drivers from which owners will be able to select drivers,” Vaz added.
He said the Transport Authority would also activate the suspension and revocation policy to sanction rogue operators with effect from April 1 next year, when the new licensing period for operators begins.