The George Municipality has announced the annual increase in the GO GEORGE bus fares from 1 July 2024. The increase forms part of the annual municipal tariff adjustments.
Bundles still the best buy
Smart card trips bought in bundles of 10 or more will increase by 85c per trip to R12.75 and
bundles of 2 – 8 trips will cost R14.15 per trip (95c increase). The price of single trips loaded on the Smart card increases with R1 to R17 to encourage passengers to load the multiple, cheaper bundles on their Smart cards and to avoid long queues to top up every few days.
The bundles of 10 trips and more remain the best buy. Purchasing this bundle saves a passenger who travels to work or school and back home five days per week, R170 per month in travel expenses compared to the same number of single trips.
Free trips for first-time card buyers
The cost of the smart card is R37. For first-time buyers presenting a valid form of identification, the price includes two free, preloaded trips. New cards with no identification and replacement cards also cost R37 and do not include any free trips. There is no profit for the Municipality in the sales of smart cards; on the contrary, the cards are sold at much less than their cost to the Municipality.
Trips loaded on a smart card never expire. This means that trips bought before the tariff increase stay valid. Passengers are welcome to buy more trips than usual before the increase to save money but are cautioned to keep their cards safe – if lost or stolen, the trips cannot be transferred to a new card.
Utilise existing Smart cards
Passengers are encouraged to utilise their existing cards to top up and not to unnecessarily purchase new cards if they do not need it. Similar to bank cards, smart cards expire five years after issuing by the bank. Hence, it makes even more sense to rather use existing cards you may have in reserve rather than purchase a new one if it is not really necessary.
For more information and an up-to-date list of top-up vendors all over town, please call the GO GEORGE Call Centre at 0800 044 044, follow the GO GEORGE Facebook page or visit the Travel cost page.