Not to some!

Recently we had another round of fuel price increase. As a result the government of the day agreed to increase the taxi fares by 33%. So you'd think that calculating a 33% increase would be a simple task, right? WRONG!

The flagfall during the day was $1.00 and after 10pm was $1.50.  The charge per 200m was $0.10. Applying the 33% increase should have made the flagfall during the day, $1.33 and after 10pm, $2.00. The charge per 200m should have become $0.13. Simple math you might think. It is.

For some reason, LTA thought it best to make the flagfall during the day $1.50 and $2.00 after 10pm. The charge per 200m they decided, wouldn't change. This decision no doubt has caused a great deal of confusion for the passengers and the general public alike. It has become the issue of the day (or shall I say week) in Fiji and a great fodder for the media.

In todays Fiji Times, the Acting CEO of LTA, Mr. Etuate Koroi decided reveal their formula for calculating the 33% increase. According to him, the calculation is "simple mathmatics". "The previous flagfall charge was $1 and if you take the extra 50cents and divide it by the new flagfall of $1.50 you'll get the figure 0.33".

Ok, so if I took the $0.50 increase in the flagfall at night and divide it by the current flagfall of $2.00, I should get 33%, right? Wrong! I get 25%, rightly so. Must be something wrong with my calculator, it doesn't have the LTA formulae. I'd rather the LTA calculate it for me.

In any case, as far I think, the kids had better learn the math at school and not from LTA. Or maybe they can visit some of these sites to learn exactly how to calculate the percentage increase.

• http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/sets/select/dm_percent_increase.html
• http://thegreenlantern.wordpress.com/2006/05/04/calculating-percentage-increase-and-decrease/