From 2024, a doubling of the bus ticket price in Tirana is not expected.

The doubling of the bus ticket price from 40 to 80 lek has been requested several times by representatives of urban lines due to the worsened financial situation due to cost increases and a decline in revenue from a reduced number of passengers.

The decision to change prices is made by the Municipal Council. To cover the costs from the high price of oil and the decline in revenue, urban sector operators will be supported throughout 2024 with municipality subsidies.

The President of the National Association of City Transport, Kostandin Foni, told Monitor that the Municipality of Tirana subsidizes to cover the lost revenue from the doubling of the ticket price.

“The sector currently finds it impossible to survive in this situation, with rising expenses due to the high price of oil, which remains high, the increase in the salaries of employees, and a decrease in revenue from the reduced number of passengers. While the ticket price is 40 lek, operators have requested it to be doubled. The Municipality has decided not to increase the price, so the ticket price will not change. The lost revenue from the ticket price increase during 2024 is expected to be subsidized by the Municipality. The subsidy measure for the operator is expected to depend on calculations based on expenses, operator costs, route itineraries, and the number of passengers,” he said.

In the 2024 budget project for public transport services, subsidizing the operation of the city transport service in the Municipality of Tirana is included as an objective due to the non-coverage of operating costs, resulting from reduced passenger volumes due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the energy crisis that led to the rise in oil prices.

Among the factors that influenced the cost increase last year was the high cost of oil.

While after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Foni, the urban public service continues to have a reduced number of passengers and increased costs due to the lack of workforce.

“Currently, the number of passengers is 35% less than the period before the Covid-19 pandemic. The main reason for the decrease in the number of passengers remains the population’s emigration. Another factor is the fierce competition from suburban lines that take passengers from urban lines in Tirana”.

However, the transport sector also suffers from a lack of workforce.

“Most employees, such as drivers, dispatchers, billers, controllers, have massively emigrated. Everyone is thinking of ways to leave. The main reason for emigration is low wages. Compared to the rise in prices, employees’ wages have not seen a significant increase. Operator costs have also doubled, while revenues are the same as before the pandemic,” emphasized Foni.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the urban sector has been supported with two crisis packages. The first package was implemented due to the pandemic crisis. Last year, the second package was also implemented to assist the sector with reimbursement of 100 lek per liter for the oil spent for the months of August-September-October, after the high increase in oil prices.