Month tickets for buses and trolleybuses will increase in price proportionally to increase in tariffs

The Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) voted on Tuesday, September 26, the decision on settling prices of month tickets proportionally to the increase in tariffs on August 1. In this way, the price of trolleybus month tickets will increase by 33%, according to the increase in price of one travel from MDL 0.75 to MDL 1, and of bus month tickets – by 60%, according to the increase from MDL 1.25 from MDL 2. The price of trolleybus month tickets for pupils will constitute MDL 29, for students – MDL 44, for grown-ups – MDL 66.5. Thus bus month tickets will cost respectively MDL 56, 72 and 104. The municipal councilors voted in favor of canceling some provisions included in a decision of CMC in August 2000, according to which municipal transportation enterprises could settle by themselves the price of month tickets. At the proposal of the independent councilor, Mihai Roscovan and of the PPCD councilor, Alexandru Corduneanu, the Department of Transportation and Communications will present to the Council within one month, proposals on differentiated month tickets in public transport, following the experience of other countries. According to Roscovan, month tickets are a way of crediting public transportation, so that authorities must encourage persons who buy month tickets, and their cost should be proportionally smaller, depending on its validity term. He suggested introducing tickets for one day, 3 days, one week, for a month, several months, half a year, and one year. The councilor Victor Grebensicov suggested settling common tickets for buses and trolleybuses. CMC examined the issue on the cost of month tickets, as a result of the solicitations of the PM Vasile Tarlev addressed to the City Hall. He asked to reexamine the prices settled by the transportation enterprises and even to halt selling month tickets at the prices for September. Despite the fact that previously municipal authorities declared they do not agree with diminishing prices of month tickets, without compensation from the Government, it was ascertained that the losses of the transportation enterprises will be compensated by the authorities which settle facilities, meaning the Municipal Council. In this context, some councilors asked transporters to prove first of all the existence of these losses. In September, pupils paid for the bus month tickets MDL 55 (by MDL 20 more), for students – MDL 75 (+30), for grown-ups – MDL 130 (+65). Trolleybus month tickets for pupils were sold with MDL 50 (+28), for students – MDL 75 (+42) and for grown-ups – MDL 120 (+70) The head of the Department for Transportation and Communication, Veaceslav Tarna told CMC that the month tickets were sold out at 86% with the aforementioned prices. At the same time he confessed that the majority of month tickets were purchased by enterprises, in order to offer facilities to employees.