The Central Bohemian Region wants to raise the price of buses by a quarter, waiting for Prague’s approval
“Changing and increasing the PID tariff is necessary, we cannot afford to close our eyes to this problem or stick our heads in the sand. Tariffs have not moved for 10 years, during which time compound inflation alone was over 21 percent, “said Councilor Borecký.
He reminded that another reason is the rising costs and higher salaries of drivers, the purchase of new buses and the integration of Prague’s integrated transport.
The Central Bohemian Region spent 3.5 billion crowns on public transport last year, and this year it will be even more, according to the councilor. According to Borecký, such high expenditures are not sustainable in the long run.
Overview of proposed price changes of Prague Integrated Transport in the Central Bohemian Region.
The Central Bohemian Governor’s Office announced in February that it had reduced the number of buses in the region by ten percent as part of the savings. The reason was the loss of passengers due to the pandemic, the region lost half a billion in revenues from public transport last year.
According to Borecký, prices would change with time and individual fares. The Prague tariff band P and 0 would remain unchanged.
“In contrast to the situation in the capital, our region provides 75 percent discounted fares for pupils, students and citizens over the age of 65, so the impact of fare increases on these groups of passengers is relatively small. Our goal is to convert some residents into time, ie long-term fares, “Borecký added, adding that over time, year-round coupons will benefit.
According to the proposed changes, prices for monthly and quarterly coupons should increase by 21 percent, but for annual coupons by 10 to 15 percent. According to the councilor, this will bring about an extra 90 million crowns to the captain’s office from 1 July and up to 250 million next year.
Due to the interconnectedness of Prague’s regional transport with regional transport, Prague councilors will still be discussing the proposal to change the fare. According to iDNES.cz, this will probably not happen until after Easter.
The opposition movement YES abstained. The representative for YES, František Petrtýl, expressed concern that people would drive more cars due to the increase in prices. Hejtman’s Deputy for Finance Věslav Michalik (STAN) argued that if the fare did not become more expensive, traffic or other services in the Central Bohemian Region would have to be restricted. Otherwise, the region would have to borrow public transport, which Michalik called nonsense.
Already last December, the governor’s office canceled the student and senior fares introduced in the past on the basis of the CSSD’s election promise. Pupils, students and people over the age of 65 could travel for free in the region until the end of last year. As elsewhere, this group has a 75-year discount on fares, and the remaining 25 percent was reimbursed by the region upon request.