The Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) of the Turkish capital Ankara announced a decision to increase public transport fares in the country’s second most populated city after a meeting on Monday afternoon.

The Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) last week revealed the intention of tabling a proposal for raising public transportation fares to conform to UKOME’s agenda, owing to increasing fuel costs.

According to the new decision effective Jan. 15, 2023, the new fares are determined as TL 9.5 for a full ticket instead of TL 6.5, and TL 4.75 for a student ticket instead of the current TL 3.5. Meanwhile, the unlimited monthly student subscription will see a rise from TL 90 to TL 140.

A statement by the municipality said that the price of one cubic meter of CNG (compressed natural gas) used in EGO General Directorate buses increased from TL 1.67 in April 2019 to TL 20.77, indicating the hike stood at more than 1000%. It also said that the total expense of the EGO General Directorate in November 2022 stood at TL 382 million ($20.34 million) and the ticket income was TL 120 million, resulting in a monthly deficit of TL 262 million.

"This loss has been subsidized from the ABB budget allocated for citizens for months, but the cost burden and taxes have been increasing day by day," the municipality’s statement read.

The issued statement also pointed out that the fuel issue affected the ABB the most because it is the municipality with the largest bus fleet running on CNG. The municipality officials said they "regretted to say" that the stated fares will be effective from Jan. 15, while noting that they urged relevant ministries ''to make a new tariff regulation in favor of citizens owing to the CNG price hike.''

"If this arrangement is not made, it will be necessary to raise ticket prices again, without which it will not be possible for EGO to continue functioning smoothly," noted the statement.