Photo: City Bus Facebook

Commuters dissatisfied with increased city bus fares

The increased city bus fares are hurting the commuters already burdened by inflation.

Tshering, a regular commuter, is dissatisfied with the fare increase. “I live in Babesa and my office is in the Core Area. The city bus added Nu 10 to the fare. Previously, the fare from town to Babesa was Nu 15.  It is Nu 25 now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sangay Dorji, City Bus Services (CBS) Manager, said that the city bus fare has increased, and currently charges a minimum Nu 10.

He said that it is mainly to make people switch from paying cash in buses to smart card system.

“The fare is relatively affordable if they use a smart card system. We are charging Nu 5 and Nu 1 will be charged for every stop. People paying cash would have to pay Nu 5 extra for every zone,” he said.

CBS has implemented a smart card system in 45 buses, covering all of the city routes. And because the system is fully GPS coordinated, the charges are subtracted based on the distance covered.

Another commuter, Pema, stated that she has no choice but to use city bus services, and that with escalating costs, she feels overburdened.

Pema, a daily commuter, believes that the city bus price is excessively costly, and is comparable to taking a taxi.

“Even if thromde maintains the same bus fares, there is no loss because the bus carrying capacity is quite large,” he explained.

Thimphu’s city buses have also begun operating night excursions till 10:30 pm.

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