The increase in fuel prices will mean slower fast crafts.
The usual one-hour ferry travel from Bacolod to Iloilo might extend for another 15 to 30 minutes as fast craft companies brace for the impact of fuel price increases on the transportation industry.
Frank Carbon, one of the fast craft company owners, said fast crafts traveling to Iloilo will reduce their rates per minute (RPM) to ensure lesser fuel consumption.
“If we increase the ferry fares, we might not have any passengers at all. Instead, we will reduce our speed to offset our fuel consumption,” he told DIGICAST NEGROS on Sunday, September 25.
Carbon, who is also chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said from the usual travel time of about an hour, traveling from Bacolod to Iloilo and vice versa might now take an hour and 15 minutes up to an hour and 30 minutes.
He said that the three fast craft companies have already agreed to this scheme to ensure that it will not hurt inter-island travelers.*