Increased bus fares
likely from Nov 1
PHILIPSBURG--While government has endorsed the request from the Bus Drivers Association for a fare increase, the association still needs to submit certain information to the Executive Council before its request can be implemented.
Transportation Commissioner Louie Laveist said the association should submit the information as soon as possible, because he would like the new fares to be implemented effective November 1.
The association had queried whether its request for a fare increase had been given the green light by the Executive Council, as it had been made more than a year ago and the association hadn’t heard anything about it. The association also had requested a meeting with the Executive Council and had threatened to take action if the response was not favourable.
Laveist told reporters at Wednesday’s Executive Council press briefing that he supported the fare increase, as it was justified and it had been 17 years since the last increase. He said gas, buses and the cost of vehicle insurance had increased over the years, resulting in mounting cost for bus drivers.
He said the Executive Council had approved the requested increase, but the Legal Affairs Department had indicated that the association needed to specify what its “night fares” and its fare for children would be. It also needed to amend the section of its proposal that mentioned a roundabout in the vicinity of the former Midass Muffler.
He noted that Midass Muffler no longer existed and that while plans were in the pipeline for a roundabout at the junction of Union, Welfare and A.J.C. Brouwer Roads, there was no roundabout in that area as yet.
The association will be asked to clarify these points as soon as possible to facilitate possible implementation by November 1.
Laveist said he purposely had opted not to respond to certain allegations made by the association because he thought a “confrontational” approach was not the best way to handle the matter.
“But I hold no grudge. I don’t know the reasons for the unfortunate turn of a confrontational approach, but I have been able to speak to many bus drivers separately and inform them accordingly what the status is pertaining to the pending increase,” he said.
