The nationwide review of bus fares has been completed. Bus Fare Review Committee Chair, Joel Abraham revealed that final deliberations are being carried out and a report will be passed on to the Land Transport Authority.
The review was conducted utilizing financial data provided by 32 bus operators and views of Fijian commuters.
“From the 32 operators, 23 or 72% of operators still have not responded to calls for verification by the Bus Fare Review Committee. While we are aware of their concerns, we had sent requests for verification of financial data for 23 operators as there are many anomalies in the submitted data that needed verification.”
Abraham adds thousands of Fijians have said they do not want an increase in the bus fares, however, the Committee’s agenda is to promote fairness.
Abraham says work will continue into different elements of the sector such as a review into the e-ticketing system, bus routes and a regulatory framework of review.
He also highlighted that complaints have been raised by members of the Fiji Bus Operators Association to look into internal affairs of operation – as a number of concerns have appeared.
-FBC
