Metro hikes bus fares by R1 per trip
Some commuters say that the municipality didn’t do enough to notify them about the increase.
Tshwane commuters are unhappy about a R1 per trip metro bus increase that kicked in on Monday.
Some of them also complained that the municipality didn’t do enough to notify them about the increase.
Pensioner Suzan Mothiba said she didn’t have access to WhatsApp to be notified about the increase.
“It would have been better if they put a paper notice on the bus,” she said.
She told Rekord that she wasn’t happy with the increase because she couldn’t budget for it since she wasn’t notified about it.
Another commuter Khensani Malope said she heard rumours about the price increase, but didn’t take it seriously because she thought it was hearsay.
Malope said the increase had put a financial strain on her this month.
Commuter Thobile Mkize said the difference was only by a point and did not have a heavy impact.
However, the bus should be more convenient and therefore shouldn’t strike.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said that the new bus fare increase will benefit commuters “as the Tshwane metro will be able to provide quality and timely bus services”.
He said the tariff increase was part of the metro’s integrated development plan and medium-term revenue expenditure framework process.
According to Mashigo, public meetings were held across the city, and commuters were alerted about the bus fare increase.
“Tariffs were advertised online and placed at various community centres for the members of the community. Interested stakeholders could provide inputs or object to the proposed tariffs,” he added.
The increase will cover bus service operations and the increasing costs of diesel, lubricants, parts and general maintenance of buses.
“Commuters will benefit as the metro will be able to ensure that the quality of services is maintained.”
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