AZE.US
Azerbaijani economist Natig Jafarli has sharply criticized the decision to charge passengers for express buses introduced between Baku Metro stations during repair works.
According to AZE.US, Jafarli made the remarks in a Facebook post while responding to comments by Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rahman Hummatov.
Hummatov had said that making public transport free would encourage everyone to switch to buses.
Jafarli argued that encouraging people to use public transport should, in fact, be one of the main goals of officials responsible for the sector.
“The objective should be to make public transport more accessible and comfortable, reduce the use of private cars and ease traffic congestion,” he said.
His main criticism concerns the temporary transport arrangement introduced during repair works on the metro system.
Under normal circumstances, Jafarli noted, a passenger could pay 0.60 manat and travel by metro to the 28 May area. During the repairs, however, passengers will have to leave the metro at Nizami station and use a special express bus to continue toward 28 May.
The bus ride between the two stations – a distance of less than two kilometers – will also cost 0.60 manat.
“Where is the logic?” Jafarli asked.
He argued that passengers are effectively being asked to pay an additional fare because of repair works that are outside their control.
Jafarli also criticized the absence of time-based public transport tickets in Baku.
He said transport specialists and economists have for years called for one-hour, daily, weekly, monthly and longer-term passes that would allow passengers to transfer between buses and the metro without paying a separate fare each time.
“If there were a one-hour ticket, a passenger could get off the metro, board a bus – or do the reverse – while paying only once,” he wrote.
Jafarli also pointed to international examples of free or partially free public transport, citing Luxembourg, Malta and Estonia, as well as cities in France and Poland and Melbourne’s Free Tram Zone.
In his view, authorities in many cities deliberately encourage residents to switch from private cars to public transportation – rather than treating increased public transport use as a problem.
Jafarli said this should also be one of the central goals of Azerbaijan’s transport policy.
AZE.US