The Nikolaev Electric Transport Company is requesting an increase in fare prices.

The municipal enterprise "Mykolaiv Electric Transport" has approached the city authorities with a proposal to increase the fare for rides on public electric transport.

This was reported by the director of the enterprise, Yuriy Smetana, at a briefing held on Thursday, February 21.

According to the head of the enterprise, the fare for cash payments will rise to 10 UAH, while payments made via QR code will increase to 8 UAH. The draft decision to raise the fare will be reviewed at the meeting of the executive committee of the Mykolaiv City Council.

- We are doing everything we can to ensure our passengers understand why the fare is going up. If we had not opened 4 new routes, why would we be making this request? We would have continued operating as we did before. But we are opening new routes, and in order to continue providing quality services and expand our presence on the city's routes, we are asking for a slight fare increase, - stated Yuriy Smetana.

The director also emphasized that their main goal at the moment is to encourage Mykolaiv residents to use cashless payments for their rides. He noted that raising the fare from 7 UAH to 8 UAH will not yield significant income for the enterprise and will not cover expenses.

- The fare increase will not cover our expenses. Why 8 UAH? Because we want to minimize cash transactions as much as possible. Cash payments distract the driver, which impacts road safety. With this fare difference, we aim to encourage more people to use the electronic payment system for their rides, - he explained.

It should be noted that currently, the fare for rides on trams and trolleybuses is as follows: 8 UAH for cash payments and 7 UAH for payments via QR code. The new fare could take effect as early as March 1.