The city of Belgrade will replace its public transport ticketing system with one that includes new zoning rules and different timing options in May, Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić has announced.
“The new public transport system will divide the city into only two zones. In the current system, there is a 90-minute ticket, and it will no longer be in use. Instead, there will be a one-day ticket for the whole city, and the price will be 200 dinars (€1.5). Also, paper tickets will no longer be in use,” said Šapić.
A seven-day ticket will cost 1,000 dinars (€8), a monthly ticket will cost 3,000 (€26) for one zone, and 3,500 (€30) for both zones. The annual ticket price for the first zone will be 30,000 dinars (€256) or 35,000 dinars (€300) for both zones. Tickets will be available via the free app, at specific selling places or via SMS payment.
“Until May, all existing tickets will be valid. Existing annual tickets will remain valid until the end of 2023, but people must enter their annual ticket data via the app”, the Mayor also said.
All students under 19 are eligible for free tickets, and people over 65 will receive a free lifetime ticket.
Meanwhile, ticket controllers will no longer be a part of the system. Instead, only the City’s militia will have the right to control, legitimise and hand over fines to passengers without tickets.
This way, passengers without a ticket will be given a new ticket and will not be forced to leave the transport vehicle but will have to pay a fine of 5,000 dinars (€43), Šapić said.
Passengers are no longer obliged to validate their tickets and thus create a crowd upon entering the vehicle, while the city’s public transport vehicles will have their ticket validator machines removed.
(Aleksandra Vrbica | EURACTIV.rs)
Source: euractiv.com
