Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Public transport drivers in Cancun and Playa del Carmen have announced an illegal rate hike. The drivers began advertising the five peso fare increase Monday in Playa del Carmen and Tuesday in Cancun.
Several units in both cities were seen with the signs declaring a fare increase of five pesos as of Friday.
“To inform that the public transport fare will increase starting Friday, August 23, 2024. Passage $15.00 pesos urban zone” the signs read.
According to the notice, the fare for the urban zone route will increase from 10 to 15 pesos, while for the Cancun Hotel Zone it will be 17 pesos. It is being seen as a strategy to pressure authorities to increase the fare for urban transportation services.
However, some drivers have already started charging the increased rate, which has not been approved by the state.
Rodrigo Alcázar Urrutia, the General Director of the Mobility Institute of the State of Quintana Roo (Imoveqroo), announced earlier this week that a rate hike has not been approved. His announcement was made after complaints were filed by public transport passengers being charged more than the posted fees.
In the complaints, passengers reported being kicked off buses and combis or just denied service for refusing to pay the illegal five peso rate increase. Others reported being kicked off for simply complaining.
According to Alcázar Urrutia, fines will be applied to those who violate the law. He says they have started roadside inspections in several points of Cancun and Playa del Carmen in search of vehicles with the illegal rate increase notices.
He says passengers inside the units being stopped are being asked how much they are were charged.
He says personnel from the Quintana Roo Mobility Institute are inspecting the vans and removing the signs announcing this illegal increase, adding that they are not allowed to charge passengers more than what is stipulated in the current rate schedule.
“All these increases, if they occur, are against the law. We are in the process of analyzing the rates, but the requests submitted by the unions do not include the corresponding studies that are required to approve any such increase,” he said Wednesday.
