Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
BUS operators in Portmore, St. Catherine have hiked their fares in anticipation of increased revenue during the free-spending Yuletide season.
Those plying the downtown Kingston-to-Portmore route now routinely charge commuters $40 instead of the usual $30 fare, and at nights, they charge as much as $60.
Last year, the operators charged steep prices on Christmas Eve, the so-called "Grand Market Night", to transport commuters late at night. This year promises to be no different.
Remarked a conductor who works on a bus that plies the downtown Kingston-to-Portmore route: "All on (today, Christmas Eve) is $80 mi a go charge after 8 p.m. Money affi mek this Christmas, me a defend me and de driver bonus money."
Commander John McFarlane, head of the Transport Authority (TA), said the TA would be dealing with the unauthorised fare increases.
"We've confirmed that there are cases where commuters have complained that they are being charged a little more than the norm. We've had discussions with Mr. (Ezroy) Millwood, and we'll be monitoring the situation. However, we are giving NTCS (National Transport Co-operative Society) the opportunity to deal with the situation first since the buses fall under that franchise."
Commander McFarlane said that the approved fare for executive buses for Portmore is $60, and for ordinary buses, it is $20 or $25, so no buses should be charging $40.
"We will be assisting the NTCS, and prosecuting conductors who are involved in this activity," he said.
Breaking the law
The Portmore franchise comes under the purview of the NTCS. Mr. Millwood is the president of the NTCS. Sunday Gleaner efforts to contact him last week were unsuccessful as he was said to be out of office. He did not return telephone calls.
However, Barry Cross, route manager of the NTCS, identified "robot operators" the main ones breaking the law.
"It is the robots that are jacking up prices. They charge anything, depending on their mood," he said. "Robots outnumber our buses, and they are so smart that they paint up their colours like those of the NTCS. Express buses cannot charge more than $60, but robots can charge anything they like...it is the order of the day, they are already operating outside the perimeter of the law."
Meanwhile, there was no indication that fares had been increased on rural routes, but Gerald Spaulding, a route inspector at the rural depot in downtown Kingston, said that bus and taxi operators sometimes charge more when "the River Road is blocked and they have to drive through either the Barry or Sligoville routes.
"At nights, sometimes the buses will charge $300 each (instead of $240) to go to Montego Bay, and $200 each (instead of $140) to go to Brown's Town," Mr. Spaulding said.
That practice is not condoned by the TA either.
"They're not supposed to...but the buses on the rural route have distance-based per mileage rates, and if there is a longer distance, due to no fault of their own, they have been known to charge more...so we know of that practice," Commander McFarlane said.
Bus operators have been lobbying for deregulation of fares from at least 1991 when Mr. Millwood, president of the then Transport Council, argued that since bus owners were operating in a deregulated economy, the Government had no moral authority to impose fare restrictions on them. However, the Government has consistently refused to deregulate fares. Only the Ministry of Public Utilities and Transport is empowered to set certain fare tables.
