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Speaker 1: Bronwen Bayer. We don't often speak about happy stuff. I'm

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Speaker 1: happy to chat with you about happy stuff today, Bronwen.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, parents, and good morning to everybody listening.

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Speaker 3: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 1: I'm just saying, we don't often speak about happy stuff,

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Speaker 1: but you bring good news today, don't you.

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Speaker 2: I do, I do. I just want to we obviously

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Speaker 2: just want to share with the lessons of Golden Airbus

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Speaker 2: lives is that even though the says the diesel prices

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Speaker 2: skyrocketed recentc we're still holding out and we're still not

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Speaker 2: currently increasing.

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Speaker 3: Outfairs and that that is such good news.

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Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people are going to

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Speaker 1: welcome that news because they've seen a bit of a

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Speaker 1: creep on on their on their budgets over the past

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Speaker 1: couple of months.

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Speaker 3: Uh, Bronwen, I know.

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Speaker 1: That you are also very very forward thinking in your

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Speaker 1: strategy as Golden Arrow. I know that you've got the

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Speaker 1: electric buses, and I think that would have cushioned some

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Speaker 1: of the pain, wouldn't it.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. So we've got a hundred twenty electric prices, which

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Speaker 2: is about a tenth of our feet, so it is

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Speaker 2: helping us a bit. But the issue that is really

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Speaker 2: concerning obviously, is that we still use about twenty five

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Speaker 2: million liters of diesel every year. So if you think

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Speaker 2: about a seven and increase on diesel, that immediately adding

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Speaker 2: millions of rands until our operating costs and then it's

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Speaker 2: obviously not just the diesel, extend the entire supply chain.

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Speaker 2: So you know, these cost increases really are heading us hard.

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Speaker 2: But at the moment, we know that every day that

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Speaker 2: we can not increase our fares is the day that

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Speaker 2: our passengers are able to save a little bit more money,

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Speaker 2: and so that's why we are holding out for as

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Speaker 2: long as we can. It's very, very difficult, but we

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Speaker 2: really don't want to raise saves until we really have to.

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Speaker 1: We've seen some price gouging in the on the retail front,

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Speaker 1: on the diesel whole wholesale front.

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Speaker 3: Have you been saved that kind of suffering?

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Speaker 2: We do have a supply and so obviously we work

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Speaker 2: the prices with the supplier, so we're not quite as

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Speaker 2: exposed as the petrol stations are.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so for now and what does for now mean?

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Speaker 1: Does it mean a month? Does it mean two months?

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Speaker 2: So for us, it's really a day by day. I

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Speaker 2: think we have to be honest and say that that

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Speaker 2: we really are feeling the effect. It's extremely difficult in

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Speaker 2: us to absolve these costs, but we're going to hold

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Speaker 2: up for as long as we can. What we always

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Speaker 2: do in situations like this in terms of having a

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Speaker 2: fair increases that we will always give our passengers advanced

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Speaker 2: notice so that they know exactly when it's going to happen.

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Speaker 2: But as I said, this is kind of unprecedented for

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Speaker 2: us because usually we would have had to already increase outfares,

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Speaker 2: we would have done it, but really we just know

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Speaker 2: that our passengers are struggling. Everybody is struggling, and so

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Speaker 2: you know, we're going to try and push for as

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Speaker 2: long as we can. But if and when it does

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Speaker 2: become necessary to English affairs, we will give our passengers advanced.

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Speaker 1: And the other people in the sector we're talking many

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Speaker 1: of us taxes obviously all of them have been impacted,

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Speaker 1: and to what extent people have been impact.

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Speaker 3: Do you have a sense of.

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Speaker 1: The percentage increase that has been imposed on the commuter

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Speaker 1: in other sectors?

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Speaker 2: I don't, I think very much. Operators are kind of

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Speaker 2: deciding for themselves what kind of price increase they are

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Speaker 2: going to implement. But what it can say for industries

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Speaker 2: like the bust industry, and I'll suppose it would be

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Speaker 2: the taxi industry as well as that these are very

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Speaker 2: very cost intensive industries. But we find ourselves in a

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Speaker 2: very difficult position of not being able to directly pass

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Speaker 2: on cost increases to our passengers. So obviously any kind

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Speaker 2: of increase that comes through on outside, we can't just

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Speaker 2: immediately pass it on to our passengers because our passengers

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Speaker 2: can't afford that. So operators are really facing that very

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Speaker 2: difficult struggle of having to find a balance team remaining sustainable.

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Speaker 2: So the business needs to keep its stores open, but

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Speaker 2: also being very aware of the fact that our passengers

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Speaker 2: can't afford already can't afford to pay for fairs. So

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Speaker 2: Golden Area does try to keep it as affordable as possible.

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Speaker 2: I mean, at the moment, for less than costs of

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Speaker 2: a lease of diesel, you can still travel from places

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Speaker 2: like literably round stuff to almost anywhere in the city,

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Speaker 2: which I think is quite important. But you know, all

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Speaker 2: of everyone in our industry is really suffering and it's difficult.

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Speaker 2: A lot of businesses are going to close their doors,

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Speaker 2: a lot of businesses have closed their doors for lower increases.

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Speaker 2: So I think we're looking at a difficult time in

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Speaker 2: terms of the parlet transport industry.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think if my maths, you mustn't trust my maths.

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Speaker 1: But what we've the consumer the has has suffered about it.

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Speaker 1: What a twenty five percent increase that the pumps for

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Speaker 1: ninety five octane and I'm nearly fifty percent on diesel.

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Speaker 1: I've got a message in from a taxi commuter. My

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Speaker 1: fare went up from eighteen rand to twenty rand for

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Speaker 1: a taxi ride from Adenburg to Cape Town. So that's

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Speaker 1: just over ten percent kind kind of increase in terms

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Speaker 1: of your investment in new renewable technology and electric buses

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Speaker 1: specific Quickly, what are your plans there? You're saying you're

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Speaker 1: running at about ten percent of your total fleet electric

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Speaker 1: act this moment in time.

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Speaker 3: What's your projections into the future.

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Speaker 2: So I think it's also very important to let everybody

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Speaker 2: know that this ten percent fleet electric bus fleet has

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Speaker 2: We've already invested seven hundred more than seven hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifteen million round in this. So it's not just the

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Speaker 2: purchasing of the vices, which do you cost about double

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Speaker 2: what it diesel bus costs. So already that's how much

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Speaker 2: upfront capital cost, but it's also all of the infrastructure,

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Speaker 2: so we can charge one hundred and twenty electric buses

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Speaker 2: at the same time at our biggest steppot, So it's

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Speaker 2: very very cost intensive. But at the moment we are

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Speaker 2: thinking that this is definitely the way to go. We're

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Speaker 2: doing all of the testing to then decide whether we're

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Speaker 2: really going to go full on and just go for

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Speaker 2: a fully electric heat which would obviously take quite a

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Speaker 2: long time, or if we're going to operate a hybrid

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Speaker 2: diesel electric fleet.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so it's going to be nurser and es

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Speaker 1: coming directly that you are going to hope will keep

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Speaker 1: prices steady.

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Speaker 3: Haven't really been doing that.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. But we are also very fortunate because we invested

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Speaker 2: heavily in Turlo, so we actually create a lot of

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Speaker 2: our own energy that we used to then power the buses.

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Speaker 2: So we we we sort ahead on that one with

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Speaker 2: everything that is happening with SBAM and so we degenerate

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Speaker 2: quite a lot of our own electricity.

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Speaker 3: Good news on multiple fronts.

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Speaker 1: Bron when Dyke Bayer declaring that Golden Arrow Bus Services

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Speaker 1: will keep their prices at the same rate for now

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Speaker 1: at least, and they'll give you good fore warning when

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Speaker 1: that status will will change time approaching nineth thirty exactly.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget the naked scientists. After the news headlines at

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Speaker 1: the top of the hour, you can keep your questions

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Speaker 1: for doctor Chris Smith coming through via WhatsApp and seven

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Speaker 1: two five six seven one five six seven

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Speaker 3: Or if you want to call in, we'll prioritize your

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Speaker 3: call