At the next city council meeting, to be held on Monday, 21 November, the proposal establishing a EUR 0.50 increase in the price of the on-board ticket on STCP network buses will be appraised
According to the proposal signed by Rui Moreira, quoted on the local authority news portal, this measure is justified by the increase in company costs - namely natural gas, used by 80% of the fleet - and is part of the promotion of self-sustainability "economic-financial public passenger transport service operated by STCP".
"Since late 2021, initially as a consequence of the resumption of economic activity after the pandemic, and from February 2022, as a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, STCP's energy costs suffered very considerable increases, The average price of m3 of natural gas between January and October 2022 was around 155 cents (EUR 1.55) compared to an average price of around 61 cents (EUR 0.61) for the year 2021, which translates into an increase of around 250%", stresses the Mayor of Porto.
The mayor explains that "STCP's fleet is currently composed of 420 vehicles, 80% of which operate on natural gas, so the increase in fuel costs, particularly with regard to the cost of purchasing natural gas, represents an increase of about 20% in the company's cost structure, compared to the year 2021, and 24%, compared to the year 2020".
On the other hand, Rui Moreira underlines that there is also "an objective of discouraging on-board sales, for greater efficiency in the service provided", concluding that "the simplification of change in on-board sales is also relevant in terms of bus stop times during journeys for the respective sale, with a consequent impact on the commercial speed of the lines. This aspect alone justifies the need to always ensure a value that desirably breaks 0.50 cents".
Thus, if the proposal is approved, as of 1 January 2023 the on-board ticket will undergo an extraordinary increase of 24%, costing €2.50.
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