Long-distance bus fares will jump during a 25-day period around the Spring Festival, as opposed to the usually 40 days of increased fares, city government announced yesterday.

A public hearing last week on bus fare hikes during the busy travel season con-vinced the government to limit the number of days bus companies can increase fares, the Shanghai Price Bureau announced.

"Bus fares during the 25-day period - from January 28 through February 21 - will still be increased between 10 to 30 percent as proposed," said Zhou Weihua, a spokesman with the bureau.

The 40-day Spring Festival travel peak, encompassing the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on February 12, will begin on January 28 and end on March 8.

Under the newly approved plan, long-distance bus fares will be increased between 10 and 30 percent at different times and on different routes.

In particular, from January 28 through February 4, bus fares on express routes will be allowed to jump by as much 10 percent, while regular routes can increase prices by up to 20 percent. From February 5 through February 11, ceilings for express and regular bus routes are 20 and 30 percent, respectively, and from February 12 through February 21, a 10 percent increase is the highest allowed on both routes.

The bureau also an-nounced that college students booking tickets in groups will only be charged normal fares during the holiday period.

Similar bus-fare increases have been recently approved in several provinces.

about 2.6 million people will travel in and out of the city by bus during the holiday period, an increase of 20 percent over the same period last year.

( eastday.com January 25, 2002)