FARE CHAOS - PPV drivers plan to implement own rates amid lack of clarity on charges; some want higher bump

Confusion and frustration erupted across the island on Tuesday after the Government announced a phased increase in public passenger vehicle (PPV) fares without immediately publishing a revised fare table, leaving operators and commuters uncertain about what should be charged.

The long-awaited fare adjustment, announced by Transport Minister Daryl Vaz after months of lobbying by taxi operators, will be implemented in two phases. An initial eight per cent increase took effect yesterday while the remaining eight per cent is scheduled for July.

The absence of a fare-adjustment table added to the uncertainty. During the previous two fare increases, many operators rounded fares up to the nearest $50 to avoid dealing with coins. With the latest increase, it remains unclear whether calculations will be based on the currently approved rates or the amounts passengers were actually paying. If the older approved rates are used, some routes could see little or no fare movement.

Even if calculated based on actual fares being charged, several operators dismissed the increase as inadequate, with some signalling to The Gleaner that they would impose their own adjustments.

For Mohinder Peterkin, who operates on the Vineyard Town-South Camp Road route in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), the increase amounts to only about $12 on the $150 fare he was charging passengers.

“Twelve dolla pon $150. It nuh mek no sense. Just put it a $200 and done ‘cause wi nuh have no silver (coins). Weh wi a go get silver fi mek change every minute?” he asked. 

 “Betta dem wait until July and give wi di rest of per cent and just increase it to $200. Dat nuh mek no sense,” he told The Gleaner. 

Another taxi operator, who requested anonymity, said the phased increase was an insult. 

“Gas price has gone up 40 per cent, and we’re talking about getting a fare increase of eight per cent now when we should have gotten the increase many months ago, more than a year ago. Dem a play politics wid wi livelihood,” he said. 

Norman Gardens route taxi operator Damion Riley lauded the Government for finally implementing the increase but said he and his colleagues would be rounding the fares to $170.

“Gas gone up, and get expensive and everything, so wi haffi just try fi do weh wi haffi do, and mi respect that from the Government,” he said. 

Bus operator Devon Clarke, who has worked the Kingston-St Thomas route for more than 25 years, said the increase would do little to offset rising operating costs.

In addition to higher fuel prices, Clarke said competition from Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses has significantly reduced earnings for private operators.

“It nah go mek no use to mi right now. To the price a gas oil, it no mek no sense,” he told The Gleaner, adding that he currently charges $350 for fare while the JUTC buses charge $300. 

“We have to come together as conductors and drivers and decide if we a go tek di rate weh wi get,” he said. 

President of the Advocacy Group Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services , Egerton Newman, said operators would have preferred the full 16 per cent increase to be implemented at once. Nonetheless, he said members had accepted Cabinet’s decision with a “sombre tone in our hearts”.

“We have to work with it because it is a hand down from Cabinet. It could not be changed. It makes no sense we, as operators, say we don’t want it. It is already made in tablet of stone,” he told The Gleaner. 

Newman also questioned the decision to make the increase effective immediately, suggesting that the move may have been intended to ease tensions among commuters.

Meanwhile, Opposition Spokesman on Transport Mikael Phillips accused the Government of using “gimmicks” and exposing what he described as an absence of a coherent transport policy.

In a statement, he described the move as “highly unusual” and “extremely disrespectful” to commuters who depend on public transport daily.

“How does the Government implement a new fare without notice to public passengers?” he questioned.

Meanwhile, Lorraine ‘Oscar’ Finnikin, president of the All Voice Taxi Association, said his almost 500 members have not reacted positively to the phased increase either, but tempers are cooling as they get more information. 

“It is for us now, as leaders, to see how best we can share this information with our members who are very restive and are under pressure, especially where the gas prices are concerned,” he said.

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