The Consumer Rights Association (THD) had filed suit with Ankara’s 9th Administrative Court asking for a repeal of the fee increase for Ankara public transportation, and the court ruled to roll back prices to 2003 levels. Starting this Monday, full price bus tickets will be 90 kuruş, and student tickets will be 60 kuruş, while short distance dolmuş fares will be 90 kuruş and long distance fares TL 1.Bus routes in Ankara, as in İstanbul, are served by a combination of municipal buses and privately owned buses, or Özel Halk Otobüsler.
While private buses will stop running, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality will reduce the number of its buses and routes.
Speaking on the court ruling, Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek said it is impossible for them to run their buses on the income brought by fares so low. While stating that the ruling will cause chaos in Ankara, Gökçek continued: “Rationally, this decision cannot be implemented. Turning back to the fees of the 2003 will bankrupt the municipality. The municipality cannot handle such an economic burden. I hope the court case to be filed by the drivers [against the ruling] will be successful. … I already apologize to our residents [for the inconveniences to come].”
Answering a question on whether the decision on Ankara bus fares will be an example for other cities, Gökçek said it could be possible, noting, “When a case is filed [against current fares in other cities], it means their fares will also revert to the fares of six years ago.”
Meanwhile, THD President Turhan Çakar said the allegations by the Ankara mayor were unrealistic. Çakar also noted that they filed a court case against the 33 percent fare increase implemented after 2005 and the court ruled their favor on Oct. 15, 2009.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara yesterday, Çakar said, “The unjust treatment toward unemployed people, students, laborers and poor people has ended in Ankara, where transportation is the most expensive among other world capitals.” He also claimed that passengers in Ankara had paid over TL 5.5 billion for public transportation over the past five years.
