Bus Fare Rise Sparks Public Outcry

By Cherry Ip, Liana Wong, Rosa Cheong

A survey conducted by Umac Bridges at McDonald's, Avenida Almeida Ribeiro on October 17 shows that a majority of Macau residents oppose a rise in bus fares.

The statistics of the survey shows that 84 percent of interviewees are against the bus fare increase, with 44 percent think that the two bus companies, Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau, S.A.R.L. (TCM) and Transportes Urbanos Macau Sarl (Transmac) should not raise the fares at all while 29 percent think that the markup should be around five percent instead of 7.97 percent.

Economically, 67 percent said that the bus fare raise would limit their spending budget for the month, and 19 percent even said that they would reduce bus trips in order to save money if the bus fare rises.

Besides, 78 percent mentioned that the increasing costs of human resources are not reasonable enough to convince people to accept a rise in bus fares while 72 percent of the interviewees stated that it is acceptable for the companies to raise the bus fare for the reason of the rising fuel oil costs.

The survey also shows that 86 percent of the total interviewees agreed that university students should enjoy a discount when buying a monthly pass like other students in non-tertiary institutions. This was also agreed upon by 79 percent of the non-student interviewees.

The survey was carried out using short questionnaires to ask opinions of the customers at McDonald's about the bus fare raise proposal sent by the two bus companies to the government. Totally, 127 people were surveyed, including 62 university students and 65 non-student citizens above 16 years old, 34 of them were male and 93 were female.

According to the survey, Macau residents oppose the rise in bus fare because they are not satisfied with the bus service. Some interviewees even experienced cases where certain bus drivers could lose their temper easily and they would yell at passengers. Some would even drive faster than at a normal speed. Environmentally, people complained that the air conditioner is usually turned off, with closed windows, so the air quality inside the bus is often poor.

Secondly, the rapid development of Macau's economy is attributed to the free travel scheme of individual travelers. Many interviewees believed that the bus companies have benefited from the increase in individual tourists and they have a stable surplus in earnings, and are in a good financial condition even at the current level of bus fares. They argued that local residents are the main source of bus passengers, however, their living condition has not yet been improved substantially with the recent tourist boom. The bus companies should not put pressure on the lower classes' living standard by raising the bus fares.

According to the statistics released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), compared with the same period of last year, the Composite Consumer Price Index had a minor increase of about 0.4 to 2 percent in June, July and August. However, if compared with the same quarter of last year, the Price Index for the second quarter rose only symbolically about 0.07 percent, and it even decreased by 0.6 percent in the first quarter. Some residents asked why the bus companies never lowered the bus fares when there was a deflation in the past five years, but would immediately increase them when there is a "slight" inflation this year.

Residents suggested that the bus companies could lower their operation costs through other measures than increasing the fares. For instance, they should improve the bus route planning in order not to overlap bus routes. Other suggestions include reinforcing the bus maintenance, weeding out aged buses to decrease the consumption of fuel oil, or giving a discount to those whose brothers or sisters buy monthly passes so that they can get more customers and at the same time reduce the burden of bus costs on low-income parents who have several children.

Two Macau bus companies handed in a proposal to the government for raising the bus fare in mid September. The average markup for the bus fares would be 7.97 percent and 9.5 percent for the monthly pass, but the timetable has not been settled.

The reasons they gave for the fare increase are, firstly, the cost of fuel oil is rising. It increases the operational cost for the bus companies. Secondly, they need to raise staff salaries in order to keep them on the job and to be more competitive, as well as to pay extra for their overtime because of insufficient human resources. Finally, the bus companies argued that they have not readjusted the bus fare since 1998. According to the proposal, the fare of city routes would be raised from MOP2.5 to MOP2.8, from MOP3.3 to MOP3.5 for the island routes between Macau and Taipa, from MOP4 to MOP4.3 for island routes between Macau and Coloane Village, and MOP5 to MOP5.5 for island routes between Macau and Coloane's Hac Sa Beach. The fare of monthly pass would be raised from MOP210 to MOP230.

Because the issue is a public concern, the government is now in the process of public consultation. Ao Man Long, Secretary for Transport and Public Works expressed that he is analyzing the application for the bus fare increase. He said that the government would analyze the raising rate and the timetable carefully. And he emphasized that the government would try to maintain the equilibrium of interests and benefits between the public and the bus companies. Furthermore, he said that the government and the bus companies are analyzing the rearrangement of the bus routes to improve the efficiency of bus services.

Ng Kuok Cheong, a member of the Legislative Assembly, stressed that it is not an occasion for raising bus fares. He appealed to the government to consider this problem carefully. Besides, he thought that residents should not be victims of the bus companies' improper operations, for instance, a costly allocation of bus routes and schedules.

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