Revoke Increased Busfares: ECREA

Decision to increase bus-fares must be revoked and a proper assessment done!

ECREA calls on the authorities to bring back the old bus-fare immediately and carry out a proper assessment before increasing bus-fares.“The recent increase in bus-fares is having a serious and detrimental impact on our school children particularly those from lower income earning families.

We have been informed by people in informal settlements of their children not being able to attend school as a direct result of bus-fares increasing”, said Chantelle Khan, Director of the Ecumenical Center for Research, Education & Advocacy (ECREA).
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Ms. Khan stated that “Since the new school term has began we are mindful of the fact that many families are now living through this added hardship of increased bus-fares.

• We are concerned at the process taken by the LTA to arrive at this percentage increase that has in effect given bus companies the advantage to increase busfares.
• We also question the calculations made by LTA in their stage markings and ask how they arrived at thesevarying figures.

This increase is unjust and dishonest in the sense that it has been designed to created more burden for the bus-traveling public”.

“We call on the Land Transport Authority to carry out a proper assessment for this increase. In the meantime, we call on LTA to immediately bring back the old bus-faresuntil this is done.”ECREA strongly urges the LTA and this Government to consider the plight of the poor,marginalized, single mothers, single income earning households and school children in
this matter of increasing bus-fares.
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Chantelle Khan, ECREA Director, Ph: +679 3307588, Fx: +679 3311248