Price Cut In Budapest Public Transport – The Passes Cost 10% Less

Price cuts will also be introduced in Budapest public transport. On 14 November 2013 the General Assembly of Budapest approved the motion for BKK’s public transport pass prices to be decreased by 10% from 1 January 2014.

Proposed by Mayor István Tarlós and Szilárd Németh, member of the General Assembly of the Municipality, costs of the most frequently purchased pass types required for daily commutes to work and school will be reduced. BKK has taken measures in recent years, due to which public transport fare revenues have significantly increased: the opening hours of ticket offices have been extended, ticket sales by drivers on board have been continuously introduced on more and more vehicles. Additionally, the system of revenue protection has been completely reorganised: BKK has made ticket inspection more effective and the front-door-boarding only policy has been introduced on more routes. A total of 300 new ticket vending machines will be installed in Budapest and the implementation of the automated fare-collection scheme (AFC) will also start in 2014.

Decreased fares will only apply to natural persons (individuals) not to businesses.

Owing to the decision, natural persons will be able to purchase the following types of passes at a 10% lower price from 1 January 2014:

monthly Budapest-pass (full price): instead of HUF 10,500 it will cost HUF 9,500
discounted annual Budapest-pass: instead of HUF 114,600 it will cost HUF 103,00
Budapest-pass for students: instead of HUF 3,850 it will cost HUF 3,450
Budapest-pass for pensioners: instead of HUF 3,700 it will cost HUF 3,330.

In addition, also the following types of passes are going to cost less:

weekly supplement for Budapest pass: instead of HUF 2,700 it will cost HUF 2, 450
14-day Budapest pass: instead of HUF 7,000 it will cost HUF 6,300
Monthly Budapest pass for parents with small children: instead of HUF 3,850 it will cost HUF 3,450
Quarterly Budapest pass: instead of HUF 31,500 it will cost HUF 28,500
Quarterly Budapest pass for students: instead of HUF 11, 100 it will cost HUF 10,350
Quarterly Budapest pass for pensioners: instead of HUF 11,100 it will cost HUF 9,990
Semester Budapest pass for students: instead of HUF 18,000 it will cost HUF 16,200
Annual Budapest pass: instead of HUF 126,000 it will cost HUF 114,000 (12x HUF 9,500)
Annual discounted Budapest pass for students (both the one-page and the 12-slip types): instead of HUF 42,000 it will cost HUF 37,800
Annual discounted Budapest pass for pensioners (both the one-page and the 12-slip types): instead of HUF 40,700 it will cost HUF 36,600
Annual all-line Budapest pass: it will cost HUF 103, 000.

Public transport is the most important public service under the pricing authority of Municipality of Budapest. The transport governance system has been reformed to a significant extent including the reorganisation of the Budapest Transport Company (BKV) to improve effectiveness. Mayor István Tarlós and Szilárd Németh emphasised in their proposal that in the three years after its inception BKK has taken several measures to increase public transport fare revenues.

opening hours of ticket offices have been extended
on-board ticket sales by drivers have been introduced on a wider scale ticket inspection has been reorganised completely and become more effective and the front-door-only boarding policy has become more widespread. Along with these measures BKK made the possibility of ticket purchase easier since these measures are intended to help passengers in obtaining tickets and passes more easily and not to issue more fines
300 new ticket vending machines will be installed in Budapest and the implementation of the AFC scheme will start in 2014

These steps result in BKK’s increased revenues expected to be HUF 56 billion in 2013, compared to the revenues collected by BKV in 2010 in the amount of HUF 50 billion, making the decrease of fares possible.
The price cut will affect approximately 800,000 people in Budapest; thus BKK makes the financial burden of almost each family in Budapest and its metropolitan area lighter.

Between 2002 and 2010 the inflation rate was 58.8%, while in this period public transport fares rose by 142%, in other words the increase was 2.5 times more than the inflation; in real terms fares increased by 52.4 %.
The percentage of fare reduction was 3% (in case of student and pensioner passes, it was 10%) between 2010 and 2014, while the inflation rate was 17.3%, which means that in real terms prices were decreased by 10-24%. Meanwhile, public transport has become more efficient, new buses have been put into operation and the refurbishment of trams has begun.

In addition to 10% price cut in fares, the General Assembly of Budapest made a decision about the introduction, keeping or withdrawal of ticket types and about further discounts for the year 2014, such as:

introduction of the 14-day Budapest pass for students in the public school system
introduction of the discounted pass for dogs
introduction of the pass for heritage transport services
keeping the 5/30 BKK 24-hour travel card in circulation
modification of the conditions of use of the 7-day travelcard

These motions for the year 2014 will come into force on 1 March 2014.

14-day Budapest pass for the students in the public school system will be introduced

Currently, students can purchase monthly, quarterly, semester (for the period between September and January as well as between February and June) and annual passes. Passes for a shorter period (for 14 days) are on sale for the full price. Students in Budapest are entitled to a significant discount: the monthly pass for students for 3,850 HUF is 63% cheaper than the monthly pass for 10,500 HUF (full price) yet they cannot purchase a student discounted pass for periods shorter than one month. Having been requested by passengers, the introduction of this type of ticket is becoming a reality: the new14-day student pass will cost 2,300 HUF.

The pass for heritage transport services will be introduced

The General Assembly of Budapest approved the operation of heritage transport service lines in the framework of a public service at its session held on 26 September 2013. In 2013 passengers were able to ride heritage vehicles on 29 days. BKK will introduce full fare tickets for heritage transport services and the discounted tickets for children to encourage regular ridership. Besides, also passes for heritage transport services will be available with the following conditions:

only an annual full fare pass will be offered under the name: “annual BKK pass for heritage transport services”
the price is HUF 15,000
valid on all the heritage transport services ordered by BKK on the full length of the lines
not be valid on services operated by MÁV-Start Zrt. and by Volánbusz Zrt
unlimited validity on heritage boat lines

Following the successful pilot, the 5/30 24-hour ticket will always be part of the available ticket range

The reports about the sales turnover of the 5/30 BKK 24-hour ticket meets previous expectations and it can be assumed that this new product generated the appearance of new passengers, but for sure resulted in more ticket sales. Passengers’ feedback was positive, no abuse has been experienced, therefore this type of ticket will remain in circulation in the future. The 5/30 BKK 24-hour ticket contains 5 slips, each valid for 24 hours. Passengers are able to purchase the block of ticket slips with any starting day and use it for 30 days from the indicated day.

The conditions of use relating to the 7-day travelcard will be modified

In the future passengers have to indicate their names or the number of their pass ID, personal ID card, card-format driving license, student ID or of their passport on the 7-day Budapest travelcard.

Discounted pass for dogs will be introduced

Based on passenger feedback, BKK took changing pet-keeping habits into consideration and reviewed public transport fares for transporting dogs. As a result, a dedicated dog pass will be introduced which will be cheaper than a full-fare monthly pass. The conditions will be, as follows:

there will be only a monthly version, under the name of “monthly dog pass”
it will cost half of the full-fare Budapest pass (HUF 5,250)
it will be valid on all the public transport lines commissioned by BKK on the full length of the lines
it will not be valid on services operated by MÁV-Start Zrt and by Volánbusz Zrt
it is valid on public transport boat services only on workdays

Source: http://bkk.hu/