New bus fare structure takes effect

Sep 02, 2018 News

– Charges for operators that overprice
– Those who don’t have fares displayed cannot collect increase
– Operators claim some fares make no sense

Yesterday marked the day that most commuters had been dreading, the increase in bus fares. However for some, the new fares were pleasantly surprising as they were significantly lower for some routes.
One such is Zone 32, which covers from the bus parks in Georgetown, to Parika, and all the stops along the way. The most notable was the fare to Parika, from Georgetown which according to the new fare structure, stands at $420. This was much to the disbelief of drivers and commuters alike, since the fare has for the longest while been $500.
Several bus operators even indicated that they refuse to adhere to the new structure, saying that they had no representation in terms of the pricing for the various drops, pointing out that some of the fares when looked at in relation to the distance, simply make no sense.
One such discrepancy would be that the fare from Georgetown to Uitvlugt is $220, and the fare from Uitvlugt to Parika, is $140, which represents a total of $360, whereas the fare from Georgetown straight to Parika is now $420, which is $60 more than if a passenger was to disembark at Uitvlugt and re-embark to travel to Parika.
Further analysis shows that in the case of coming to Georgetown from Parika, the prices gradually increase spanning various villages; meanwhile, from Georgetown to Parika, the prices remain the same across those very villages.
This has led to many bus drivers and conductors refusing the new structure and the union, some going so far as to say they are not represented by the union and as such, will charge what they deem as fair.
This however could spell trouble for these non-compliant buses, as officers have been informed that any bus operator who overcharges passengers can be charged if the passenger reports this to the police. Furthermore, any bus that does not have the fare structure clearly displayed cannot charge the respective increases.
All minibus fares saw an increase of $20 from yesterday following talks between the Ministry of Business and the United Minibus Union. The two sides agreed that a $20 across-the-board fare increase for minibus operators was appropriate at this time.
Moreover, it is the expectation of both parties that both operators and consumers will adhere to the new fare structure. In its statement, the Ministry of Business said that it has undertaken to draft the new fare structure for the various zones and routes, and make this available to the United Minibus Union for circulation to its members.
The Ministry in a statement also said, “minibus operators are required by law to display the fare structure in all buses”.
The meeting also saw both parties agreeing on the need for an established code of conduct for minibus operators and to continue their engagement on this matter.
The need for proper enforcement was also discussed and there was consensus that this needed to be urgently addressed with the relevant authorities.

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