Like most of the nearly 1.7 million Kyivans who use the metro system every day, Khrystyna Kyrylenko is tired of standing in long, rush-hour lines to buy blue plastic tokens to get through the turnstiles.
With the introduction of a new fare system that uses plastic electronic cards, Kyrylenko – a police employee in her 20s – hopes her two daily trips underground will get easier, though she knows they won’t get any cheaper.
That tradeoff — increased convenience at a higher price — is something that metro riders are facing as Kyiv modernizes its transport fare system in 2014, with new equipment, ticketing procedures and options for multiple-day passes. The changes are designed to speed up the ticketing process, particularly for regular commuters like Kyrylenko, and to put Kyiv on par with major European business centers like Budapest and London.
For many Kyivans, the first concern about the new system, which is expected to cost more than Hr 100 million ($12.5 million), is whether it’s going to lead to a transport price hike. In October, about 20 university students held a protest against metro price hikes amid reports that the cost could go up to Hr 5 per ride.
There also are concerns because the plastic travel cards will be issued by a private investor who keeps 8 percent of the revenue from cards sales.
Ivan Shpyliovyi, City Administration Transport Infrastructure deputy chief, said this week that fares will increase, though the exact amount is not known yet. Metro officials have said that a more economically feasible cost for one ride would be Hr 3, not the current Hr 2. After the upgrade, Shpyliovyi also said that there will be ways for regular riders to get discounted prices. The price of a single metro ride hasn’t changed since 2008, when it was raised four-fold to Hr 2.
Kyrylenko, however, is more concerned about saving time rather than saving money.
“I like the way the public transport system works in Moscow, even though the price there is twice as high,” she said. “It is much better to have a single ticket than carry a bunch of them or queueing for tickets. Of course, I would like the fares here to stay the same but, with our government, (a price increase is) inevitable and we will have to put up with it.”
The new system will be introduced in two phases. The first stage will start in 2014 with the replacement of the blue plastic tokens by electronic cards and the implementation of a new system of fares. During the second stage, a single card will be introduced, allowing the rider to use all types of public transport, both underground and ground.
With the new system, the number of cashiers will be dramatically reduced; consumers will purchase cards through machines, and will use automatic validators when entering and exiting the metro. The city will also collect information on metro use patterns.
“We travelled abroad and saw that in Europe, America and Asia, single-cards systems are introduced in 90 percent of cities,” Shpyliovyi said. Ukraine’s project is based on the systems used in several European capitals, including Warsaw and London.
City authorities say the system is designed to prevent fraud, provide flexibility in setting fares, improve traffic safety and reduce operational costs.
Where the existing system provides for only two pricing options – a single ride or a pass, both with the same cost per ride – electronic ticketing will create options that allow consumers like Kyrylenko to decide what works best for them, both from a financial and a commuter standpoint.
Judging from similar systems used in Berlin, Budapest, Warsaw or New York, pricing will be based on how long an electronic pass is valid, when the rider travels and much more.
András Timár, a Hungarian transport consultant and professor at the University of Pécs Department of Infrastructure in Budapest, noted modern urban public transport pricing systems are mostly time based.
Shpyliovyi said that consumers ultimately will have a range of choices, particularly for the metro. For example, if a rider buys an e-pass that is valid for a year, they will save Hr 1 per ride over the time when the card is in effect, regardless of the time of day. An occasional commuter or system user might opt for a less-expensive e-card that is valid for a shorter period of time, losing the per-ride discount but saving money on the cost of the pass.
While the specifics of the pricing system have not been decided, Shpyliovyi said fares could depend on the distance or the number of stations a passenger travels, the time of day – with rush-hour travel being more expensive – and more. The previously announced Hr 5 fare, which would allow unlimited metro travel within a 75-minute window, would be another option; it would be the travel choice for someone making multiple stops.
“It (new system) provides more mobility, and it’s convenient,” Kyrylenko said. “Compared to Europe, in Holland for example it (cost of one ride) is about Hr 7. So we can say the price in Ukraine is still tolerable.”
For all of the new system’s expected benefits, there also are concerns, aside from the entry of a private investor who keeps 8 percent of the revenue from card sales.
Vadym Slobodyanyuk from the Center for Political and Economical Analysis also pointed out that it looks like the new system will create new bureaucracy, with one agency within the metro system handling ticketing and another selling advertisement on the trains. “Such structures are usually not transparent,” he said. “In a complicated system, it is more difficult to follow decisions.”
On the flip side, complicated fare systems make it easier for public agencies to raise fares more smoothly and avoid protests – and their attendant political problems – that can come from sudden jumps in the price of public transportation, Slobodyanyuk said.
Timar still supports the initiative of Kyiv authorities.
“Practice around the world — in London, Paris, Vienna, New York, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, etc. — shows that the current pricing system in Kyiv with tokens is obsolete,” Timar said. “Kyiv should introduce a modern pricing system that would be fair and equitable, as well as transparent and easily controllable.”
