Only slight maxi fares hike justified

Sensible thinking.

But since “immediate” will soon pass, this is a reminder of the increase in fares that could be justified by the increase in the price of diesel. For a typical 12-seater maxi using diesel, the fuel consumption can vary from about nine km/litre to 12 km/litre. For our purposes, we will use the easy figure of ten km/litre. For a journey of ten kilometres, the maxi will use one litre of diesel. His increased fuel cost for that trip would be 32 cents. Shared among 12 passengers, that comes to less than three cents per passenger.

If the maxi is half-full, on average, the 32 cents increase will have to be shared by six passengers, that is, just over five cents per passenger. In general, for a half-full maxi, he can justify an increase of five cents for every ten kilometres.

Even with just three passengers, a ten-cents increase in fare will cover the increased cost of fuel for ten kilometres. If maxi operators want to increase their fares for other reasons, that’s another matter, but only a miniscule increase can be justified by the new price of diesel.

NOEL KALICHARAN via email