Starting from July 14, the ticket prices for all types of public transportation were raised in Kyiv twice. From now on, a one-time ticket will cost Hr 8 — or 26 euro cents — for the metro, bus, tram, trolleybus, funicular and for the city electric train.
Before the increase, the ticket price was Hr 4, except for the metro, where it was Hr 5.
The monthly pass for three types of transport, that is buses, trams and the metro, now costs Hr 780 (25.5 euros), which is 6.1 percent of the average Kyiv salary. By comparison, in Warsaw such a pass costs almost the same – 26.4 euros – although it is only 2.5 percent of the local average salary.
Transport will stay free for retirees, war veterans, Chornobyl survivors.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, signed the relevant document two days before, prompting a wave of negative reactions on social media.
City authorities justified the move in several ways.
The first one is a major migration of Ukrainians to Poland and other European countries that has led to a shortage of the staff who work in public transport.
According to Mykola Povoroznyk, deputy head of Kyiv State City Administration, the tariff increase will boost the salary budget, attracting new employees, as well as giving an opportunity to repair the transport vehicles.
Another reason is that apparently, the Kyiv metro was under a threat of closure due to the arrest of cash desks because of debts to UkrRosLeasing, which in early 2017 seized Hr 1.96 billion from the Kyiv Metro for the supply of 100 wagons in 2010-2013.
Few options to save money on trips
Until the end of July, passengers will be able to travel without additional payment for the previously purchased one-time tickets or monthly tickets.
The blue tokens will be replaced with green ones and before August they can be exchanged without extra payment.
One token can be exchanged at any ticket office. Two and more can be changed at service centers on a few stations – Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Dorohozhychi, Polytekhnichnyi Institut, Darnytsia (lobby №2) from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. without days off.
Moreover, in order to save some money, buying 50 metro trips with a metro plastic card, one trip will cost Hr 6.5, not Hr 8.
Despite the fact that many city residents were outraged by such a rise in tariffs for public transportation in Kyiv, there are also some ardent supporters to this. Serhii Marchenko, the founder of the Borsch recruitment agency, is one of them.
“The price for a ticket in metro should not cost Hr 8, it should cost Hr 15-20, or be even more expensive because for 25 kilometers from Akademmistechko to Lisova it is not just a low price, it is very low.”
