The capital of Romania, Bucharest, has one of the most intriguing public transport fare systems among all European capitals. The subway system is administered by Metrorex and funded by the national authorities (Ministry of Transportation), while urban buses, trolleybuses and tramways lines are operated solely by Societatea de Transport Bucuresti (STB) and funded by the local authorities (City Hall of Bucharest).
An entity called “Asociația de Dezvoltare Intercomunitară pentru Transport Public București-Ilfov ADI-TPBI” was specially created in 2017 in order to ease the integration of the 19 metropolitan lines already operated by STB with the planned lines which were to be operated by STB and 3 other new companies in Ilfov County: Serviciul de Transport Voluntari (STV), Ecotrans STCM (Chitila-Mogosoaia) and RegioServ Trans (Buftea). Between 2017 and 2024 the number of metropolitan lines increased gradually from 19 to 72 and, consequently, the amount of funds needed for subsidies (which are now managed through ADI-TPBI).
The subsidy for the subway system is provided entirely by the Ministry of Transportation, the one for the urban public transport system is provided 100% by the City Hall of Bucharest, while for the 72 metropolitan lines just 10% of the subsidy is provided by the 40 satellite cities that benefit from this service. These subsidies cover the operation costs, the reduced fare passes for students and the free travel passes for seniors living in Bucharest. Also, all operators earn their own funds from tickets’ sales and advertisement, but these funds are not sufficient to sustain the costs of the service.
It is important to mention that except the subway stations where there are turnstiles, there are no other boarding rules in order to ensure a high rate of ticket validation. It is no wonder that with such a large public transport network to operate, an increasing number of subsidies and a huge fare evasion rate (according to some estimations around 80%), Bucharest reached a gloomy financial situation by 2021: an undeclared bankruptcy.
At that time, the subsidies provided by the local authorities for public land transport (buses, trolleybuses and tramways) had reached the record of 1,235 billion RON (247 million EURO) which was near a quarter of the City Hall of Bucharest’s budget, while the subsidies provided by the National Government for the metro reached 683 million RON (136,5 million EURO) which was near 10% of the Ministry of Transportation’s budget. Regarding the fares, they were unchanged since 2008 for STB and 2017, respectively for Metrorex.
Until 1st of August 2021 the costs of the 1 trip tickets were the following:
- 1,3 RON (0,26 EURO) for urban lines 1-399
- 1,5 RON (0,3 EURO) for metropolitan lines 400-499
- 3,5 RON (0,7 EURO) for express lines 780 and 783 (to the airport)
- 2,5 RON (0,5 EURO) for the subway.
All these tickets were single-ride ones, except the one for the subway which was a transfer ticket, validated only at the entrance, having no transfer time. There were also 2-trip tickets which cost 2.6 RON, 3 RON, 7 RON and 5 RON respectively.
The segregation between the two fare systems was even more pronounced as STB had separate urban and metropolitan passes (they were considered as 2 different fare zones). However, since 2017 there were some integrated tickets that can be used only on STB’s urban lines and Metrorex: 60 minutes transfer ticket for 5 RON (1 EURO), 60 minutes 10 trips transfer ticket for 34 RON (6.8 EURO) and 1 day pass for 17 RON (3.4 EURO).
In addition to the one day, weekly and monthly passes, each transport company had its special passes. STB had a 15-days pass only for urban lines, one line pass and two-lines pass (each valid for 30 days) while Metrorex had a yearly pass. Also, Metrorex had a 10 trips ticket and some group tickets (3, 4 and 5 persons), while STB offered an e-wallet which users could load with a desired sum of money (recommended for groups).
For reference, these were the fares of all above mentioned passes in 2020:
Table 1 – Public transport fares in 2020
Due to the bad financial forecasts, the complexity of the fare systems and the social pressure to keep all the reduced fares and free tickets, it was decided that a major change was needed. This took place on 1st of August 2021, one year after the election of a new mayor and a new transportation minister. The change aimed at the creation of a single fare zone (a real metropolitan zone), the integration of the fares between the 2 transport systems and the adoption of transfer tickets for public land transport.
Now, the land transport has a single fare for express, metropolitan and urban lines. The ticket costs 3 RON (0.6 EURO) and can be used for 90 minutes in Bucharest and Ilfov county, as well. This ticket can be used at the subway too, but it doesn’t have a transfer time. If you want to use both the subway and the land transport, you have to buy from the very beginning the 5 RON (1 EURO) ticket which can be used for 120 minutes in Bucharest and Ilfov county, as it is not possible to switch between the 3 RON ticket to the 5 RON one during a trip. This could be a major inconvenience for new users (tourists especially), because they must plan their trip in advance and decide which means of transport they will use.
Regarding the other fares’ changes, now it is possible to buy a 10-trips pass for the land transport for 25 RON (5 EURO), the one-day pass has become a 24-hours pass (previously the one-day ticket was valid until 23:59 the same day) and most importantly, there are integrated passes (TPBI operators and Metrorex) for different time intervals: one week, one-month, half-year and yearly.
Below you can find the new fares in RON and EURO. Users can opt for land transport passes only, subway passes only or integrated passes. Since February 2022 there are integrated passes that also include the train to Otopeni airport, one of the first lines of the future metropolitan train network.
Table 2 – Public transport fares in 2024
At the beginning, there were many complaints about the new fares, because many users did not understand the difference between the old one-ride ticket and the new transfer ticket. Also, many occasional users were dissatisfied that some travel passes were discontinued and replaced by other passes with higher fares. The lack of proper communication from the authorities was the main cause of this phenomenon as the changes were announced just a few weeks before the implementation.
At the same time, authorities introduced new payment methods like onboard payment by bank card in most of the old vehicles (a new validator was installed near the second door), SMS payment or 24pay mobile application payment. All these methods facilitated the purchase of tickets for those traveling from areas where there are no ticket offices. Also, in the last 3 years local authorities of Bucharest brought 300 new vehicles which significantly improved the travel conditions: 100 ZTE Granton electric buses, 100 Astra Imperio Metropolitan tramways and 100 Solaris Trollino trolleybus.
In spite of the initial complaints, users discovered gradually that the new fares have more advantages and they really encourage the use of public transport. Indeed, the number of sold travel passes increased in the last 3 years, but there is no clear evidence that the number of users had the same evolution as authorities claim. This might be the result of the fare evasion rate reduction, as the number of fines (80 RON/16 EURO) decreased by 26%.
In the last 2 years, things took a positive turn and the bankruptcy was successfully avoided by the local authorities thanks to the unpopular measures. As the economic situation has been balanced, now it is time for more investments in infrastructure and new vehicles (other than the 300 already purchased) in order to change the mobility behaviours of people from Bucharest and Ilfov County. We will keep you updated on the development in Bucharest.
10.09.2024
