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 The price of single bus tickets is to increase again as the Oulu bus company successfully persuades the city council that the increases are needed to stay in profit.
According to Kaleva, the Technical Board begged the city council to increase the price of bus tickets in September to reflect various financial pressures on the company. The city council will continue to subsidise monthly tickets, keeping their prices at the current level, but the price of single tickeys will increase. The decision to keep season pass prices down is contingent on the city investing a further 120,000 euros in Oulu transport. The price of single ticket will increase from 2.80 to 2.90 for adults and from 1.40 to 1.50 for children. The bus prices will rise by an average of 5 percent to reflect increases in the cost of petrol. The bus company has already raised its prices as the government increased the cost of season tickets for school pupils in June. The Oulu bus company last raised its prices at the beginning of last year. Ticket prices in various other cities have already risen and Oulu remains one of the most expensive cities in Finland to get a bus with ticket prices being marginally cheaper even in the capital Helsinki which recently attempted to lower its bus ticket prices further. The bus company has insisted that these price rises - and various cutbacks - are the only way to ensure a profit. For example, they won't be reintroducing the bus service to Turkunsaari which they found that, on average, had one customer a day. The profitability of bus services in various other outlying areas of Oulu is also questionable, especially because many people only use the bus service in the winter, preferring to cycle in the warmer months. Oulu residents have not been too happy about the new round of bus fair rises. 'It is cheaper to run a car that get the bus,' said one Oulu University student. 'If you can drive, it means there's just no reason to use public transport.' Posters on the Kaleva website have also complained about the hikes with one poster pointing out that a single ticket in Madrid, the Spanish capital, is only 1 euro and others suggesting that the bus service should be boycotted in favour of cars and bikes.
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