Transport fares rise as Christmas draws nearer

Dec 21, 2014

Tis the season once again and as is with festive period, public transport fares have risen around the country.


By Lawrence Mulondo

Tis the season once again and as is with festive period, public transport fares have risen around the country.

Holiday makers and business travellers, especially those using the long routes, are parting with more money as transport costs.

Averagely, fares have increased by some 25% on routes like Kampala to Mbarara, Kampala to Mbale, and Kampala to Jinja while Kampala to Masaka by about 15%.

Bus fares for Kampala to Arua and to Gulu have not changed in some bus parks and risen by 15% in others.

George Mukwaya, a passenger at Kisenyi bus terminal, said that fares for the Kampala-Mbarara route have risen from sh13,000 to sh25,000.

He said: “I am taking goods to Mbarara for sale, but the rise in transport fares will also affect the costs of these goods.”

Another traveler, Grace Mbatude, found that the cost for the same route in the New Taxi Park had increased to sh15,000 from sh10,000.

She will not be affected, because she said she expected the rise in prices around this time of the year, and so had saved enough money to take care of her travel to her village.

Abbas Ali, a bus driver, said the number of travelers is still very low compared to last year. Despite his sentiments, all bus and taxi parks in Kampala are busy handling large numbers of travelers.

And the numbers are expected to keep increasing way into the beginning days of the New Year.
 

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});