PASSENGERS MAY PAY MORE FOR BUS FARE

Bus fares are going up. Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, last Tuesday, gave a clear indication that the Mini Bus operators will mostly likely get their wish for an increase in fares, after two years of knocking heads with him on the issue.{{more}}

“I believe that the case can be made by the mini buses for an increase in the fares. I think that all reasonable persons would probably agree with that,” Dr Gonsalves said during a press conference held on his return from Taiwan.

“We have tried to cushion it (the fares) for a long time with subsidies, but the (oil) prices are rising so sharply that the issue has to be addressed, perhaps with a price increase.”

The news was greeted with pleasure and satisfaction by Herman Preddie, president of the National Omni Buses Association (NOBA), who said that at a meeting of the association last Sunday, the issue of a fare increase was again raised strongly by members.

Preddie said that while some members are using the subsidy, the overall cost of doing business has gone up.

“We were in the process of organizing to meet with the Transport Board to discuss it again,” Preddie said.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that a fare increase is long overdue.

Dr Gonsalves himself admitted that he understands that the public transportation fares in St Vincent and the Grenadines are significantly the lowest in the Eastern Caribbean.

In May, Dr Gonsalves had announced an increase in fuel prices at the pumps but rather than giving in to demands for a fare increase had announced an increase in the two year old Mini Bus subsidy.

Mini bus operators can claim $3.75 a gallon for up to 286 gallons per month in diesel consumption, while those that operate on gasoline can claim $4.50 a gallon up to 220 gallon per month.

But even with the increased subsidy, the general feeling by bus operators was that a fare increase was necessary.

Dr Gonsalves and NOBA locked horns in 2006 over the proposed fare increase, and on August 21, NOBA called out its members on a wildcat strike that lasted three days – but the Prime Minister remained resolute in his decision not to grant a fare increase.

Now it seems that NOBA’s members will be a happier bunch and commuters will have to fork out more to travel.

The Prime Minister, however, promised that even if a fare increase is granted and the general subsidy decreased, “targeted subsidies” will still in place.