The deadline for raising public transport fares in Astana has been postponed by two weeks. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Fares in the capital have been raised only once since 2014, from 90 to 110 tenge. Over this period, the cost of fuel, spare parts, new buses, and driver salaries has increased.
“For example, in 2014 a liter of diesel fuel cost about 107 tenge, now it has reached 329 tenge. In 2014, the average salary of bus drivers was about 100,000-150,000 tenge, now, depending on the bus class and work schedule, it starts from 700,000 tenge,” akimat specialists say. Nevertheless, 1,127 new buses have been purchased over the past three years.
According to current estimates, in 2026 the average cost of transporting one passenger is significantly higher than the current fare.
“In this regard, taking into account the increase in operating costs, the need to ensure uninterrupted bus service, renew the fleet and develop the route network, it is proposed to raise the fare for cashless payment to 150 tenge from mid-December,” the official statement says.
Who rides buses for free
Despite the fare increase, a number of categories of citizens will continue to ride for free. They are:
- 01veterans and persons equated to them;
- 02pensioners;
- 03mothers with many children;
- 04large families;
- 05persons with disabilities;
- 06children with disabilities under 18 and one of their parents (legal representatives);
- 07persons recognized as victims of political repression for participation in the events of December 17-18, 1986 in Kazakhstan;
- 08persons rehabilitated in accordance with the procedure established by the law “On Rehabilitation of Victims of Mass Political Repressions.”
In addition, since March 2020, children under 18 studying in Astana ride public transport for free.