Gov’t assures concessionary fares to stay under new bus contracts

The government has assured lawmakers that the current passenger privileges on public bus services would likely be retained when the new services contracts are finally agreed.

Currently, seniors, students and residents with special needs can apply to the contactless e-payment company, Macau Pass, for a registered card that will automatically apply the aforementioned discounts on their bus rides.

When paying bus fares with the Macau Pass card, passengers pay MOP3 or MOP4 dollars each ride. Senior citizens and residents with special needs can ride free of charge, while students travel at half price.

Ella Lei, president of the legislature’s Committee for the Follow-up of Land and Public Concession, disclosed that the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, had assured during the yesterday’s committee meeting that such discounts are likely to be retained under the new contracts.

The committee was additionally concerned about two topics: the manner of calculating the subsidy for bus operators, and the operation of side revenue streams, such as advertising and bus rental services.

However, the committee president disclosed that her colleagues were not entirely happy, as the government is still not able to provide a new subsidy calculation mechanism to the legislature.

Lawmakers in the committee claimed that the current calculation mechanism is too complicated. In order to determine how much subsidy is to be given to the bus company, the calculation requires data about the size of the bus used for each route or operation, as well as the distance that the route or operation has covered.

“Generally speaking, society doesn’t have a clear picture on how the amount of subsidy is calculated,” Lei said. “Lawmakers also find this mechanism not very scientific or reasonable.”

Lei added that the subsidy is approved once the bus company deploys a bus. This has generated concerns from the public and even the Audit Commission. The mechanism has caused a phenomenon colloquially referred to by the public as “ghost buses”, which describe buses deployed for the sake of deployment, rather than for transporting passengers.

Furthermore, the committee is concerned about the ambiguous stipulation in the current contract regarding side revenue streams operated by the two bus companies. These side operations regularly charter buses to take casino employees and run advertisements on their vehicles.

Theoretically, Rosário said, these incomes should be differentiated. He has pledged to the committee that the new contract will address this topic with respect to whether they will be allowed to run side businesses, and how they can run them if approved.

After the committee meeting, Secretary Rosário expressed his confidence in confirming a contract in June or July, stating that “It will be in the third quarter at the latest.”

Details of the contract are currently under discussion at the Executive Council, so the secretary declined to make further comments on them, especially as negotiations with bus companies are ongoing.

The government extended all bus concessions for 14 months in October 2019. The updated contract will expire at the end of this year.