site.btaSofia City Hall Under Fire for Plans to Increase Public Transport Ticket

Sofia City Hall Under Fire for  Plans to Increase Public Transport Ticket

Sofia, march 29 (BTA) - The Sofia City Hall has come under fire for plans to increase the price of the ticket for the public transport.

The going rate for a single ride on the bus in Sofia now costs 1 lev and the plan is to increase it to 1.60 leva as of June 1. The increase has been proposed by the Urban Mobility Centre and is yet to be moved to the Municipal Council for an approval.

The Reformist Bloc (RB) calls for having the same rate for a single ride on a bus and the metro, to make it more conivient for public transport users. The RB representative in the Sofia Municipal Council, Stefan Markov, said that 1.20 leva is a reasonable rate but not 1.60 leva, reported the RB press office.

The RB are looking forward to a report and an analysis by the Urban Mobility Centre, to justify the proposed increase. No such reasoning has been put forward for the proposed increase, Markov reportedly said.

Speaking on Bulgarian National Radio, he said that the interest of the municipality and Sofianites should determine the rate - not the Urban Mobility Centre which is only a company with municipal participation.

MP Sastimir Ananiev of the RB said that he has heard no sound argument in favour of the increase. He also argued that the dropping prices of fuel and other energy sources, and the increase of the users of public transport, especially the metro, certainly do not justify a 60 per cent increase of the bus fare.