Saskatchewan Transportation Company or STC passenger fares will increase by an average of 5.5 percent beginning Friday.  The average fare increase per ticket will be $1.90 based on an average one way trip of 182 kilometers.

STC President and CEO Shawn Grice says like any business STC faces inflationary pressures on their operating expenses for necessities such as fuel, maintenance and staffing.  He says their goal is to issue smaller annual increases that will help offset the amount of government subsidy STC requires but at the same time keep their bus service as affordable as possible.

The last STC passenger fare increase was 4.7 percent last October 15th.