It is expensive in Prague. Because of Mayor Hřib’s pirate coalition, the people of Prague will reach deeper into their wallets
The people of Prague are paying in their pockets for the chaotic rule of Mayor Zdeněk Hřiba in Prague. The inhabitants of the capital experience a significant increase in the cost of living both in public transport and by car. They will also pay extra for waste collection, water and sewage and the Prague climate plan. In addition, the Municipal Coalition led by Pirates is counting on the introduction of tolls, and the construction of the new D-metro line will become more expensive.
“Praguers are paying more and more money for the services provided by the capital city of Prague, but unfortunately their quality is not visibly improving. Instead, they will pay more money for worse services. There is a mess in the streets and around garbage cans, yet since January the Hřibov coalition will increase the cost of waste collection by almost ninety percent. Tens of thousands of parking spaces are missing, but the parking fee has increased fivefold. Before the municipal elections, the Pirates even promised the city free public transport, but they increased the price of tickets for people by a quarter, and at the same time they do not deal with the management of the Transport Company. Of course, passengers will not get more comfort if they do not consider the newly painted trams in the coalition, ”added Zdeněk Zajíček, chairman of the Prague club of representatives for the ODS.
According to the Prague ODS, the increase in the prices of some services provided to Prague residents for their money can be justified, but not in such a way that their quality will decrease.
“It does not make sense for us to raise fees indefinitely without Mayor Hrib and his colleagues intending to do how he provided services such as routine cleaning so that they do not have to become more expensive or not so expensive. It is clear that people expect a better service for a higher price, but unfortunately they are not getting it yet, “adds Zdeněk Zajíček.
Examples of how Hřib’s magistrate coalition makes life more expensive for Praguers:
P + R parking up to 5 times more expensive
Since August, Prague has even raised the price of parking in most P + R car parks, somewhere up to five times. Until then, drivers in all car parks except one paid 20 crowns a day. Up to 350,000 cars arrive in the capital every day, but there are about three thousand places in parking lots that keep people going to work or school by public transport. According to experts, the ideal number of parking spaces should reach at least ten and up to fifty percent of arriving cars. In practice, this would mean that Prague needs three thousand over 170 thousand parking spaces instead of three thousand.
Detours became more expensive by detours and waiting in convoys
Uncoordinated traffic closures in the city came out for hundreds of crowns this year. When driving through the city, they often have to face up to 70 traffic restrictions, in some very busy locations, traffic is blocked by several closures at once. The illogically planned road closures, the senselessly dug-up city and the wasted time of drivers in convoys are the result of the lack of interest of Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřiby and his transport square Adam Scheinherr (Prague himself) to plan and manage communications with all relevant organizations, such as Technical Communications Administration or Transport Company of the Capital City of Prague, on how to mitigate the effects of traffic restrictions on Prague drivers.
25% increase in public transport tickets
The coalition ruling the municipality wants to drive the cars off the streets and get people to public transport, but public transport tickets have risen in price for the people since August. Passengers using individual tickets in Prague’s integrated transport have to pay extra for the ticket for 30 minutes from August this year, the price has increased from 24 to 30 crowns. The 90-minute ticket became more expensive from 32 to 40 crowns. The price of an SMS ticket and the price of a discounted fare for children, students and seniors have also increased. The increase came after the Prague coalition last year claimed that it would not increase public transport fares yet. In July, she announced that the increase in coupons would take place gradually, every year by a crown a day, ie every year by a total of 365 crowns. Even before the municipal elections, the Pirates promised people a fare completely free of charge. The people of Prague thus do not know what the mayor Hřib will suddenly make more expensive for them, they originally promised the exact opposite.
New look for trams and buses
While Prague’s transport is plagued mainly by unfinished circuits or insufficient connections to the airport, the coalition is inventing a price increase for public transport or, most recently, a new visual of public mass funds. In the new gray-red visual of Prague Integrated Transport, the first tram began to run through the streets of Prague in May this year. Only the costs of the competition and the creation of the graphic manual cost 1,940,000 crowns. The ODS described the city leadership’s procedure as non-transparent.
Since January 2022, the collection of waste collection has risen by almost 90%
From the new year, Praguers will have to reach deeper into their pockets. Despite the deteriorating waste hell that people have been experiencing in recent months due to overcrowded bins, garbage cans and clutter around them, waste collection has become significantly more expensive, by almost 90%! According to a new tariff written by Deputy Mayor Hlubuček (STAN), the senior will have to pay up to 421 crowns, a family of four living in a household in the housing estate will now pay 3,612 crowns a year, which is almost 1,700 crowns more than this year. Only the Prague ODS pointed this out, which does not like the fact that the municipal coalition has not yet published such a significant increase in fees for municipal waste and will announce the news to people only before the holidays “as a Christmas present”.
How much will Praguers pay for the climate plan? Each over 170 thousand crowns
This year, the municipal coalition approved its climate plan Prague 2030, in which it set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions produced in the capital by 45%, at a cost of 231,000,000,000 crowns. This amount is completely outside the reality of the city’s budget resources, even if they are added to this on the revenue side of various sources of energy savings, subsidies or other sources. If Prague has a population of 1,341,370, the implementation of the plan will cost 172,22 crowns for each of them, including children and seniors. The plan also includes the installation of solar panels on more than 20,000 roofs in Prague or the introduction of tolls for entry into the wider city center.
Metro D is becoming more expensive
The new line D of the Prague metro has not even begun to delve yet, and this largest investment event in the capital is already rising costs. Even before the beginning of June, the company expected two flights on the underground railways between Náměstí Míru and Písnice at a cost of 72.6 billion crowns, the estimate from June this year is already 34.7 percent higher, ie 97.8 billion crowns. Supposedly because she forgot to count inflation. The construction of the metro was again blocked this year by a member of the representative club in Prague 4 elected as Pirates.
New tolls in Prague up to 1,500 crowns per month
Pirates and coalitions ruling at the Prague City Hall will now collect tolls from residents from 1,250 to 1,500 crowns per month from Prague residents, even after discounts for residents, but only if their vehicles entering the new toll zones in the capital meet the strictest EURO emissions 5 and EURO 6. Drivers with older cars will have to reach even deeper into their pockets, up to 2,500 crowns per month. I am counting on a climate plan, which includes the introduction of a toll. The Civic Democrats called it rude to collect tolls from drivers as a situation where the coalition did nothing at all to complete the outer and inner ring road and the adjoining radials.
Water rose to 7.9% for Praguers
This year, Praguers pay 92.36 crowns without VAT (101.59 crowns with VAT) per cubic meter for water, which is 7.9 percent more than last year. The Prague and Sewerage (PVK) have increased the price of tap water due to the repair of the Podolí waterworks and the reduction of water consumption, as it expelled tourists, commuters and working people from Prague and severely reduced economic activities. The price list for 2022 has not been published yet. Prague Water Supply and Sewerage (PVK) leased the water supply network from the city company Pražská vodohospodářská společnost (PVS) until 2028.
New calculation of real estate tax, resulting in a doubling of the tax
Already last year, a new decree of the capital came into force, which carried out real estate in some city districts of Prague, somewhere up to a 100% tax increase. The tax increase was criticized by the Prague ODS, according to which housing in Prague is already very expensive today, and therefore the municipal coalition should, on the contrary, introduce steps that will make housing cheaper.