Sofia's New Public Transport Fare 'Temporary', Mayor Says

The higher price for a single public transport ticket in Sofia is only provisional as a new smart system, based on duration or distance of travel, is to be set up, the city's mayor Yordanka Fandakova has said.

In an interview with public broadcaster BNT, she has voiced her hope the new system could be in place by the end of 2017.

Precise criteria are to be set for the public procurement by the end of July, and a a contractor could be selected in the autumn, she has explained.

Starting from June 1, the price of a single ticket for public transport in Sofia increased from BGN 1 to BGN 1.6. The price of a batch of ten tickets increased from BGN 8 to BGN 12. Protests were held over the development, with critics arguing it does not match the quality of public transport services. Authorities, however, maintain the new price will help improve the conditions.

The prices of subscription cards retained their levels, with local authorities arguing they will become the more preferred choice of Sofia residents and visitors as the tickets become more expensive.

As many as 30 000 subscription cards have been issued since ticket prices went up, Fandakova has added, estimating it normally takes 5 months to issue the same number of cards.

Fandakova has also voiced her hope that interest in public transport will rise after the introduction of a smart traffic management system that will allow public transport in Sofia to operate more swiftly.

(Note: While the word "ticket" is used in the public space and media to refer to single travel documents and a batch of ten documents, the public transport operator has lately introduced the word "card" to refer to any type of travel documents.)

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