dept. of random bullshit
Feeling Cocky, BKV to Raise Prices, Introduce Night Terrors
It's common knowledge that when bad news is released, it usually comes out late Friday afternoon by which time most people have either gone home or are too exhausted to be outraged. Staying true to that commonly held perception, the BKV (Budapest Transportation Authority) released their new tariff package plans for the following year. Aside from raising already high prices, the BKV will suspend issuing monthly passes, forcing people to buy the 30-day passes instead. The stated reason for this is to end the long queues outside ticket offices that develop at the beginning of each month. Forgive me if I'm less inclined to believe this explanation than some other stories requiring you to suspend disbelief.
One of the most important parts of the BKV's new plan, however, is the idea of introducing new "night tickets" for their night bus services, Index.hu wrote. While many cities in vidék use this plan, whereby night tickets, (usually purchasable from the bus driver), carry an approximately 30% premium, this is unlikely to work out well in Budapest, even if pass holders will not be affected, as passes will still be valid on night buses.
Not only is bliccelés something of a sub-Olympic sport in Budapest, but just imagine trying to buy tickets from the driver on the sardine-tin packed 906 any weekend night. Good luck.
There are basically three potential outcomes from this night ticket plan: a) people will just walk, b) people will act like before and not buy tickets, c) when they present their valid day ticket and are rebuffed they will get into an argument with kontroll, and possibly start resembling the stereotype of British louts on a long night out.
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COMMENT!Please allow me to be the first here to say "Fuck you very much" BKV. I'm glad I walk.
So much is needed to change BKV and all they seem to do is have yearly price hikes and add more bored personnel.
Time to get a folding bike!: http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/397/
I still think Budapest has the best free transport system in the world. Go BKV. My monthly pass expired a year ago.They can put the price up 100% for all i care.
Wilbur I'm with you on that!
David it is because of people like you that prices are constantly hiked for the rest of us? Tell me, do you work? Do you expect to get paid? thought so - so does BKV. So copy Wilbur's comment and assume it for yourself as well. :(
How can anyone have a problem that the monthly pass is replaced by a 30-day pass?
I would be even more happy when BKV introduce passes, like one could buy an 8 day pass starting 12 days later. That would increase willingness to pay also. It has always been a bit hard to buy your ticket, especially if you are not close to any big Metro-station.
New things like SMS-passes and paying the bus-driver increases the possibilities to pay (for those who actually want to pay), but the system with SMS-passes has in other cities been shown to be easy to fake and hard to control.
Making the bus-driver handle money increases the risk for robberies and I would think that after the first 5 robberies we would have a new bus-driver strike to abolish the money handling. On the other hand, from my own experience, it is good to use the company's money the week before salary-day...
