Taxi operators livid

TAXI operators who have been anticipating a 16 per cent fare increase for the past two years were livid on Monday following a meeting with transport and finance authorities who appealed for more time to deliver the unfulfilled commitment.

The taxi operators argued that as prices continue to rise due to ongoing global geopolitical tensions, foremost being the US/Israel war against Iran, another waiting period or a phased allocation of the increase is not welcomed.

“We understand that nobody anticipated a war, but as a result of the war everything that we use — because remember we are out there too, we have families too — everything we use is — and I don’t want to call it raising — the price is accelerating. So, we face it daily,” general secretary of the National Council of Taxi Associations Fredrick Bryan told the Jamaica Observer.

“Now our operational expense per day is eating away more than 60 per cent of our daily income, and that is putting us in a compromising position… So they’re proposing a splitting of the 16 per cent. That is a no-no. That doesn’t make any sense,” added Bryan.

He was one of many taxi drivers who gathered at the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew on Monday for a press conference with Transport Minister Daryl Vaz and Finance Minister Fayval Williams, for an update on the long-awaited fare increase. The meeting followed concerns about a planned disruption of services by public transport operators.

Highlighting that the Government approved a 35 per cent fare increase in October 2023, however, only a 19 per cent hike was implemented, Vaz noted that an additional 16 per cent was scheduled for implementation in April 2024 but due to subsequent adverse economic events the fare adjustment was not made.

He then announced that the matter would be taken to Cabinet where it will be decided if the increase would be implemented in a phased approach or all at once.

Bryan argued that there should be no debate about the 16 per cent increase, saying that given the three-year wait period, taxi operators should have been asking for new fare increases.

“As it relates to the delivery of the given fare adjustment from 2023, now we’re in 2026, three years after; and it took us eight years prior to that one — and almost every two years we should be looking into a new fare adjustment. Now we have been waiting on that one from 2023 to 2026, still the Government is delaying again, so if you think about it, we didn’t get 35 per cent,” he said.

President of Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) Egerton Newman was also vocal on Monday as he addressed the ministers, telling them that a tranched approach to the 16 per cent increase is not a suggestion he is willing to accept.

“When I listened to Minister Williams just now, I heard maybe [we’re] getting the 16 per cent in two parts. I’m begging not to have that consideration. [We have been] waiting too long for 16 per cent just to end up in June getting eight plus eight. It’s not going to spread out. What is happening in the country today, what is happening among operators, is that everything’s gone up double, triple — and not just fuel. And believe me, I would not recommend that we consider that at this time,” said Newman.

In response, Vaz agreed that the wait period was indeed lengthy, and acknowledged that rising prices have been affecting taxi operators greatly. However, he maintained that the decision on the fare increase would be after cautious deliberation in Parliament on June 1, 2026.

He pointed out that there have been several unexpected events that have hindered the implementation of the fare hike, noting the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 and Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, with the most recent disruption being the war in the Middle East.

He said that the Middle East conflict has resulted in Petrojam absorbing up to $4 billion in losses.

“To remind you that we have a situation where we have a pricing mechanism at Petrojam which has made $4.50 per litre the ceiling of any weekly price increase. Minister Williams will speak more to the fact that we are approaching $4 billion of subsidy by virtue of not increasing [petrol prices] over $4.50 when the increases would be as much as $12.50 per week per litre…

“So what I’m trying to get across is that we are trying to balance a delicate situation, but whereas you have not gotten the 16 per cent as of right now, you have been cushioned by the policies of the Government in relation to how we handle the war and the increases in price,” said Vaz.

But president of the Southern Taxi Association in St Elizabeth, Charles Powell maintained that a full 16 per cent increase is necessary, and stated his hope that the deadline of June 1 is a trustworthy commitment from Vaz.