The much-feared fare revision is now a hard reality. The prices of bus and metro tickets are going up by Rs 5 to Rs 10. This was announced by the Transport and Light Rail Minister, Alan Ganoo at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
“The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the hike in bus fares today and it will be gazetted tomorrow to take effect from Sunday, May 8, 2022,” said Ganoo.
The reasons behind the increase are the recent fuel price increases, the reduction of about 15% of passengers on public transport since the start of the pandemic and the ageing bus fleet. “Since 2013, the government has not increased the bus fares” and he made it clear that “the government has provided financial support to the bus operators to get them through fuel price increases through the Bus Company Recovery Account (BCRA).” But the government can no longer sustain at the same rate and that the downward revision is to the tune of Rs 246 million less per annum. He also said that “the tariff should have gone up by 57% as per calculations. And without the subsidies we give to the bus companies, the fare should have gone up by 110%. But as a responsible, sensitive and aware government, we have done everything we can for a more reasonable increase.”
New fare structure
The new fares have been calculated on 39 different stages and will affect at least 466,000 citizens, who use public transport on a daily basis.
For the inauguration of the Quatre-Bornes-Phoenix section on Sunday, the journey from Port Louis to Phoenix will cost Rs 50. The journey from Port Louis to Curepipe will cost Rs 55.
The fare structure for buses is as follows:
