By Aaron Humes: It took a brief bus strike to satisfy them, but commuters are now facing the prospect of increased bus fares as the government and bus operators reach a new agreement. The new fare structure will come into effect on Monday, after several days of negotiations.
Minister of Transport, Dr Louis Zabaneh, confirmed the terms of the agreement with the Belize Bus Association (BBA) with reporters on Thursday afternoon. The most significant aspect of the deal includes a $3 per gallon subsidy for bus operators that will remain in place for three months. This funding will support operators running highway, village, and city bus services.
“The three days in which we had discussions, we looked at all the road service permits of the operators to determine their mileage, and how much that would translate to in terms of gallons of diesel. And then based on that, the price of diesel, in terms of the subsidy for the diesel and how much they would be getting per month each. We also looked at a lot of the work that had already been done with the route between municipalities, the villages along the way and applied the $0.50 for short stops and the $1 for long stops. And everybody agreed. With the city, we still have a pending signing to do on Monday morning. However, the details of that have already been worked out, and the funding will be through the City Council in that case for city runs,” Dr Zabaneh stated.
However, despite the subsidy, bus fares will see adjustments across the board. Passengers can expect a 50-cent increase for short stops and a $1 increase for longer routes. This price restructuring affects not only the BBA members but also the National Bus Company (NBC), which will also implement the fare increase.
“…here we have a best setting, if you will, where government is putting in its part on behalf of the general public. Commuters will put in their part in terms of paying a little more. And then the operators did not get all that they asked for. So they will be putting a part as well. All in all, for us to be able to deal with higher fuel prices, that’s outside of our control,” Dr Zabaneh noted.
The agreement is deemed a compromise. While some operators anticipated a higher subsidy request, the government aims to balance public costs with economic realities in light of soaring fuel prices.
But for worried commuters, the question is whether price increases may not be easily reverted once set. The three-month subsidy is viewed as a temporary measure while awaiting potential decreases in global fuel prices, he explained: “I think that in fairness to our people that we have to look at that. Now, remember that the subsidy is there just to address the increase in prices with the hope that fuel prices will come back down to some level. Unfortunately, as you’re watching the world prices, they have gone up in the past week or so. And therefore, this is a three month arrangement that we’re hoping would give us enough time for some down trending in the world prices. In terms of fares for commuters, well, remember these are ceiling prices. So certain operators may hopefully find it in their best interest to adjust their prices again once they don’t have that pressure. And I will tell you that even before all of this came to being, that on certain routes, you had different operators with lower rates than the prescribed rates. So I anticipate that some of that may occur once things stabilize a little bit.”
The post Bus fare hike on the horizon after agreement between operators and Ministry of Transport appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: It took a brief bus strike to satisfy them, but commuters are now facing the prospect of increased bus fares as the government and bus operators reach a new agreement. The new fare structure will come into effect on Monday, after several days of negotiations. Minister of Transport, Dr Louis Zabaneh, confirmed
The post Bus fare hike on the horizon after agreement between operators and Ministry of Transport appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.