The Prague Post
October 13th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

City to hike transit fares again in bid to offset fuel costs

Green critics predict Jan. 1 increase will lead to more motorists

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
November 21st, 2007 issue

Transit fare hikes

Fare prices in Kč, current and after Jan. 1
Single ticket (60 minutes Mon.–Fri., 90 minutes Sat.–Sun.)
Adults: 20 26
Children: 10 13
Single ticket, limited transfer (20 minutes on tram/30 minutes on metro)
Adults: 14 18
Children: 7 9
Seniors: 7 9
24-hour tickets
Adults: 80 100
Children: 40 50
Three-day ticket
Adults: 220 330
One-month pass
Adults: 460 550
Children: 115 130
Seniors: 230 250
High-school and university students
(15–26): 230 260
Three-month pass
Adults: 1,260 1,480
Children: 315 360
Seniors: 630 650
Students: 630 720
Year pass
Adults: 4,150 4,750

Source: Prague City Hall

Metro, bus and tram fares are scheduled to rise as of Jan. 1 in order to offset increasing fuel costs and help wean the city’s transportation system from City Hall funding. City Council approved the increases Nov. 13 by a vote of 10-1.
“The fare hike is, for us, one of the ways to solve the coming economic situation in 2008 — most of all the VAT increase from 5 percent to 9 percent, the increased fees for utilities (gas, electricity, water, heating) and the higher prices of fuel,” says Ondřej Pečený, spokesman for Prague Transport Company. These overhead expenses alone are expected to rise 1 billion Kč ($550.4 million) next year, he adds.
The higher fare will also partly cover the operation of the metro C line’s three new stations, which open next year, but won’t be used to pay for the expansion of the A line or the creation of the proposed D line. The additional revenue will also be used to pay for new buses and trams and to increase effectiveness 5 percent, meaning shorter intervals of metro trains and buses.
The fare hikes are expected to bring in about 500 million Kč annually, Pečený says.
However, these increases alone will still not cover the entire operational costs for buses, trams and metro, he says. Currently, City Hall funds 70 percent of those operational costs.
“This situation is not maintainable for City Hall from a long-term point of view,” Pečený says. “City Hall gives us less money every year, and in 2008 we expect to get 600 million Kč less than in 2007.”
Still, says Radovan Šteiner, the city councilor who deals with transportation issues, “even after the adjustment of the fare, Prague will continue to pay for two-thirds of the costs of public transportation operation out of Prague’s budget.”
In an effort to guard against revenue losses, enforcement will be stepped up, starting Dec. 1, as part of an attempt to boot more freeloaders off public transportation, which relies on the honor system and sporadic ticket inspections.
“We are currently trying to think of more ways to ensure that transport is accessible only to paying passengers,” Pečený says.
Despite the additional revenue it promises, not everyone in government supports the fare increase.
Eva Rolečková, spokeswoman for the Green Party, says the Greens think the transportation agency should find “other resources” to fund the system.
“Increasing fares is not the right way. The number of people using cars will rise as well as the number of nonpaying passengers. The fare should be more favorable.”
The Greens have also charged that the Prague transportation system is getting more expensive, relatively speaking, than some others in major European and U.S. cities. This, Šteiner says, is not true, even though, since 1989, transportation fares have increased every two to three years (the latest hike was in July 2005).
“The prices, in comparison with other million-inhabitant cities, are significantly lower,” he says. “I don’t know of any other city where public transport would be as cheap or even cheaper than [it is] in Prague.”
Although incomes vary widely among European and U.S. cities, a comparison of rates converted into Czech crowns shows that single-journey tickets are 57 Kč in Berlin, 12.60 Kč in Moscow, 148.80 Kč in London, 36.30 Kč in New York City and 40.10 Kč in Paris.
— Hela Balínová and Naďa Černá contributed to this report.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


Other articles in News (21/11/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.