Bus fare to increase as from October   |03 September 2021

Commuters boarding an SPTC bus. As from October, bus fare will increase to R10 for card users and R12 for cash paying commuters

As from October 1, 2021, smart card users will pay R10 for a bus ride while commuters paying cash will see the bus fare increase to R12 from R7 at present.

On weekends and public holidays, the fare will be R15.

The announcement was made by the Minister for Transport, Antony Derjacques, in a press conference held yesterday morning at Botanical House, Mont Fleuri.  Also present were the principal secretary for Land Transport, Patrick Andre; the chief executive of SPTC, Patrick Vel and Land Transport legal advisor, Kenny Elizabeth.

The press conference follows approved memorandums by cabinet on Wednesday, among which the SPTC budget review and the amendment to the minor offences (fixed penalties) decree and the minor offences (fixed penalties) regulations, addressed yesterday by the panel.

Minister Derjacques said that the increase in bus fare is part of SPTC’s structural reform to help it to sustain its operations and be more viable, through being less dependent on government subsidies.

He stated that through the country’s reform with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), apart from the heavy subsidisation of Air Seychelles, SPTC has also been found to be heavily subsidised to the tune of R90 million (37%) of tax payers money annually and the plan is to reduce its dependency to R40 million (17%).

The minister stated that the increase in bus fare will help the company to provide a more efficient service to its customers with regard to comfort, security and safety.  

He also noted that the price of a bus ticket for the ten years before 2018 was fixed at R5 before being increased to R7 until today.

“Government wants all of its enterprises to run like a business, meaning being more sustainable, more efficient and more viable etc.. commercially, and to achieve the goals, the human resource, the management, the service and ways to raise financing for their services,” Minister Derjacques said.

The minister explained that while the country is targeting to lower the cost of living, this cannot be done or be viewed in isolation with making the enterprises more sustainable and more viable rather than to continue to subsidise their operations with millions in taxpayer’s money. 

“I understand the difficulties of bearing the cost of an additional R3 on a ticket, mainly for people with basic salaries, which will be around R6 per day and R120 monthly and this will give rise to some stress. But I am asking for your cooperation because internally we hope to transform SPTC to make it more efficient,” Minister Derjacques said.

He noted that rather than taking a more drastic measure, the government had chosen to move ahead reasonably and hopes that the public understand and participate on how to effect change in SPTC and the public transport system.

He stated that government is considering to open up the country’s land transport system to include the private sector, in future.

Minister Derjacques stated that if government had taken the drastic measures that would have allowed SPTC to fully operate independently without subvention from government, the bus fare would have been R14 on ordinary buses and R20 for people travelling on air conditioned buses.

Elaborating further, Mr Vel said that the Agency for Social Protection (ASP) and the Ministry of Education will, through their special schemes, continue to assist their clients (workers and students).

He added that the company will introduce a corporate card, with trip bonuses, for organisations and businesses.

The CEO stated that SPTC has not been making ends meet, especially in the time of the pandemic, where it has lost 30% of its customers, among other added costs related to sanitisation, although the daily operations and travel network have remained the same.

“Government has been subsidising SPTC every year because the price of ticket at R7 does not cover SPTC’s expenses. The increase in price will provide some relief to the company’s financial situation and will reduce its dependence on the government budget,” Mr Vel said.  

Mr Vel stated that, SPTC, while undergoing structural reforms, is looking at ways to retain its resources especially through ticket leakage on buses which has cost the company R6.3 million in losses from January 2021 to August 2021.

He said that this was mainly because passengers do not take their tickets from the drivers.

He added that while the bus inspectors will be more vigilant, SPTC is working with the Attorney General’s office on a legislation to increase fines for people caught without a valid ticket on buses.

He also added that the company has made some cost cutting exercise through which R8 million was saved in expenses.

The CEO stated that SPTC will be coming out with a new bus schedule where there will be fewer trips during off peak hours on routes with low loading capacity and that the last bus to leave at night will be at 7pm.

He also stated that the company, through its smart card programme, will be pushing for cashless travel as from October 2021 as it helps to prevent ticket leakage.

He noted that SPTC has issued 50,000 cards but only 40% are being used.

“It is to encourage people to use the cards that cabinet has increased cash payment for a ticket to R12 and the price of a bus ticket will be R10 for everyone who use their cards,” Mr Vel said, noting that an app for reloading of the smart card without having to come to SPTC is on trial.

PS Andre said it is worth noting that the previous cabinet in 2018 approved for the increase in bus fare but the announcement was not made in the budget address at that time.

Patrick Joubert