Fare Integration Ambitions for Public Transport in the Budapest Region

摘要

The paper gives an overview on the fare integration ambitions in the Budapest region including 170 settlements and approximately 3.3 million inhabitants and serving more than 85% of the commuters to Budapest. The institutional and legal framework of establishing the Budapest Transport Association is discussed in detail. The basic contract of the authorities responsible for public transport provision - the Municipality of Budapest in case of urban and the Central Government in case of interurban transport - would be the fundamental document to express the political and economic intentions. The main principles of a uniform fare system are described, allowing for the universal use of the services of the three operators (Budapest Transport Company (BKV), Hungarian State Railway (MAV) and the state bus company, Volanbusz), wich operate now independently from each other. Two alternatives are considered for the ticketing system: a conventional with paper media and an electronic one with contactless smart cards, magnetic stripe cards and individual paper tickets. As a possible first step towards the association the extension of the local transport pass system is also mentioned.