If the fare in urban public transport is not raised, the municipality will have to pay almost 1 billion lei subsidies to the Electric Transport Company and the Urban Bus Company or both of the companies risk going bankrupt, mayor Ion Ceban stated in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services.

The mayor said the urban transport fares haven’t been modified since 2009. “You will not find such a price anywhere on earth, even in Africa, even if during a year we brought 240 units of transport. In the future, we are to raise the figure to 315,” stated Ion Ceban.

The reference fare of 6 lei per trip was calculated according to a methodology worked out by experts, which contains clear formulas. “In 2011, the subsidies for public transport came to slightly over 50 million lei, while last December to over 700 million lei. With these soaring fuel prices, we will incur costs of 1 billion lei,” said the mayor, noting this is huge pressure on the municipal budget.

According to him, 1 billion lei can be used to fully repair 1,300 yards of apartment building, including the sidewalks, networks and playgrounds.

The municipality suggested a reference fare of 6 lei for trips by public transport in Chisinau. The fare will be lower in the case of season tickets that will now be issued for periods of one month to half a year. The fare of 6 lei is proposed both for trips by bus and by trolleybus in the capital city and in the suburban settlements. In the case of a one-month season ticket, the price of a trip will be 3.9 lei, of a three-month season ticket – 3.3 lei, while of a six-month season ticket – 2.7 lei.