Golden Arrow has announced that its bus fares will increase by 7 percent from 27 December. This is an annual adjustment in bus fares that the company says is unavoidable due to increased costs for diesel and employee wages.

In a statement, the company said: “Unfortunately, diesel, the Company’s second largest expense after wages, has increased by an unprecedented 45% between December 2020 and December 2021. This alone has made an increase unavoidable. Wages, spare parts, and other input costs have also increased.”

Passengers can postpone paying the increased fares until 25 January 2022 in the case of 10-ride multi-journey products (which are valid for 30 days) bought on 26 December 2021 and until 25 March 2022 in the case of 48-ride multi-journey products (valid for 90 days) bought on the same date.

The company said: “In order to shield our passengers from the full effect of these increases, Golden Arrow has continued to focus on holistic and innovative cost saving measures across our operations. In the coming year, we will strive to identify further efficiencies. Golden Arrow understands the difficult economic climate in which South Africans find themselves and we empathise with our passengers who will be affected by the increase.”

All new fares can be obtained from the Transport Information Centre on 0800 65 64 63.