By ANNELIA NIXON

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Jitney drivers yesterday warned they may stage a protest of their own following the margin increase granted to petroleum retailers unless public transportation companies receive similar financial relief.

Harrison Moxey, the United Public Transportation Company’s (UPTC) president, told Tribune Business the industry has been seeking fare increases for years to help counter ever-increasing operating costs but has not received what it needs.

While the Government granted a recent rise, he added that it fell short of what was asked for, and argued that the Davis administration should now provide further incentives to bus owners and drivers to ease the burden that will be imposed once the new 16 cents per gallon margin increase for diesel takes effect.

Otherwise, Mr Moxey warned, they will “have to be the next protestors”. He added: “We need relief on some other end. We was requesting that the Government look at other measures to try to offset the cost to the public transportation industry.

“That is giving us some type of relief on licences when you have to licence the vehicles, or where the Government would give some incentive, some fuel incentive, for us to operate because it’s already hard operating under these inflated conditions, even with servicing and maintaining the vehicles.

“We have had, in some cases, a 100 percent to 150 percent increase on parts and things that we have to purchase. Insurance has also gone up. Everything has gone up. It only makes it that much harder for us to survive. And so we’ll be pushing for them to let us know what the position would be towards us, or we’ll have to be the next protesters.”

Mr Moxey said the industry requested a $2 fare, but this was not granted and it instead accepted the offered 25 cents, which he branded “totally insufficient for an industry”. This took the bus fare from $1.25 to $1.50 for some customers.

Those who take extended routes, to Lyford Cay for example, went from paying $2.25 to $2.50. Primary school children and senior citizen prices remained the same at 50 cents and 75 cents respectively. Other students pay $1.25 to ride the bus. “We wanted the increase across the board where everybody pay the 25 cents, primary, seniors and everyone, but they did not do that,” Mr Moxey added.

The 25 cent increase to bus fares was implemented earlier this year. However, Mr Moxey said another proposal was submitted to the Government, and he and others in the industry are awaiting a response on how it plans to grant them relief.

“I understand that they may have been in some talks trying to give us relief on fuel as part of one of the proposals that we would have pitched so that they can compensate; to try to offset the cost to us as operators in the industry, and that has not happened,” Mr Moxey said. 

“We haven’t heard back from it, but before that could come here comes another increase on us. So we would like to see, and we’ll be following up to see, where we are at with that proposed relief for the transportation industry - public transportation in particular.”

While petroleum retailers are making progress on their goals, Mr Moxey said he believes the “same courtesy should be extended” to those in the public transportation industry.