Public transport: New fares schedule issued

BAHAWALPUR:

Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Riyasat Ali on Thursday issued a new fares schedule at a meeting to review the new petroleum prices.

Addressing the meeting, the RTA secretary said a petroleum price revision did not give transporters the right to charge steep fares. Representatives of the Punjab Goods Transporters, Sammi Daewoo and Faisal Movers announced that they would not raise fares voluntarily.

The RTA secretary said fares for vehicles without air-conditioning had been raised to 82 paisas per kilometre from 79 paisas per kilometre. He said fares of other transport coaches would be set according to government’s directions.

He directed transporters to display the new fares on their bus stands.

He said action would be taken against those who failed to do so. He said goods transporters should register their stands as soon as possible.

Punjab Goods Transport Association president Muhammad Salman Khan said the association would retain old fares.

He said the district government should cooperate in establishing stands for transporters’ trucks.

He said establishing truck stands was a long-standing demand of goods transporters.

“The government should cooperate with us as we are cooperating with them” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2015.