Cabinet to weigh remaining 16% public transport fare rise as operator pressure mounts

A long-promised fare adjustment for public passenger vehicle operators is back before the Government, with a cabinet review slated for June as frustration among transport groups intensifies.

Finance Minister Fayval Williams has urged operators to allow more time for talks. She said she has been meeting leaders of the sector in her usual manner and, when tensions rose last week, told them she intended to place a cabinet submission before ministers in June. Williams said the draft submission is now going to her for that process.

The dispute centres on the final 16% of a fare package approved in October 2023. Cabinet had signed off on a 35% increase, but only 19% was passed through to operators. Officials held back the balance over concerns that a larger, immediate rise would feed inflation and lift consumer prices. Since then, global shocks, including hurricanes and higher oil prices, have kept the remainder on hold.

Operators say the squeeze is felt on the ground, with costs rising and margins shrinking. Police leadership has reported intelligence pointing to a possible strike on Monday, 18 May, underscoring how heated the standoff has become.

At a high-level meeting on Monday, the mood was described as measured, though the economic stakes were high. Williams warned that pushing transport costs up sharply in one move would ripple through the wider economy. “If we increase the transportation sector even more all at once, it’s just going to reflect through the economy and you yourselves are going to see it when you go to the supermarket,” she said.

The Government says it has been absorbing pressure at the pumps, spending close to $4 billion on fuel costs since February alone to limit price spikes and, in effect, ease the burden on operators. Operators counter that the relief is thinning.

Williams asked for a short extension—about two weeks—to complete discussions and settle on a figure that cabinet can consider. She suggested the remaining increase might be introduced in two stages rather than a single jump.