Cebu buses to charge P8.50 fare rate today

CAPITOL employee Dionese Canonigo pays P40 as  daily bus fare to go to work from his home in Toledo City, southwest Cebu, 50 kilometers away.

With the new fare agreement  signed by   bus operators and the Capitol officials yesterday, his bus trip will cost him P50.

He isn’t  complaining loudly though.

Bus operators have been undercharging for  several years.

“This will benefit them. They’ve been charging P6 minimum  for some time,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Bus operators signed an  agreement confirming the P8.50 minimum fare rate stated in their 2008 fare matrix.

They will charge P8.50 for the first five kilometers and an additional P1.40 for every succeeding kilometer.

Since 2011, the rate was P6 for the initial distance and P1.20 for each kilometer after under a similar agreement among Cebu operators, a result of market forces and a need to avoid cutthroat competitionon.

Cebu South Mini-Bus Operators Association (CSMBOA) president Julito Flores yesterday said that they will file their petition for  fare reinstatement today at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7) office.

Richard Corominas, Cebu Provincial Bus Operators (CPBOA)  signed on behalf of the bus operators.

They will attach to the petition the signed agreement with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia. Garcia thanked  operators for being considerate to commuters.

Flores said they are willing to roll back the fare rate once there is a rollback in  fuel prices.

LTFRB-7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon said it would take two months for the petition to be decided.

“The bus and the passenger jeepney operators have a conscience. They know the public is faced with rising water and power bills. Let’s think of them as like us,” he told reporters. /Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondent