The fare for a trolleybus or bus in Chisinau may increase to 6 lei.
This is stipulated in the draft of a new methodology for calculating fares for public transport. The methodology was developed by Business Consulting Institute at the request of the General Directorate of Transport and Transportation. The experts suggested a new formula for calculating the tariffs for travels on public transportation, according to which the tariff for travels on public transport in Chisinau cannot exceed 0.06% of the average monthly wage set by the government and must be reviewed every two years, in accordance with the inflation rate. According to the experts' calculations, the cost per trip on the trolleybus and bus should be 6 lei. At the same time, residents of the capital will be more profitable to buy season teckets instead of single tickets. For example, the cost of a single trip on a ticket for six months will be 2.7 lei. At the same time, as before, some categories of citizens will be able to use public transport for free - students of grades I-IV (about 40 thousand children) and pensioners (200 thousand people). Currently, the cost per ticket for a trip on the trolleybus is 7 lei, on the bus - 19 lei. In the public transport system (transport served by RTEC and bus fleets) the cost is 8.6 lei. The study notes that, relative to average salaries, public transport fares in Chisinau are the lowest compared to big cities such as Riga, Cluj or Vilnius. According to Deputy Mayor Ilie Ceban, the municipality has invested in the renovation of public transport, respectively, the quality of services provided has improved, so now it is proposed to review the tariff, which has not changed since 2009. Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Olga Ursu specified that due to the rise in prices for fuel and electricity, in 2022 the municipality will subsidize the municipal transport enterprises (Chisinau Electric Transport Authority and City Bus Depot) granting 700 million lei. But after the increase of tariffs, the total amount of subsidies will increase to 1 billion lei, which means that other projects initiated by the municipality may remain unrealized. It is worth mentioning that for the last 2 years the Chisinau municipality has bought 240 transport units (for 540 million lei) and has renewed 60% of the stock of buses and trolleybuses. The average age of vehicles serving passengers decreased from 12 to 6 years. Another 40 new buses and 35 trolleybuses are to be purchased in 2022. The new methodology must be approved by the Chisinau Municipal Council, and its draft has been submitted for public consultations: https://cutt.ly/uS9rdFT. // 25.03.2022 - InfoMarket
