Electric bus in Bratislava (source: Courtesy of Bratislava city council)
While Bratislava ended fifth best among European capitals in the public transport rankings, Slovakia ranked almost at the tail end of Europe. The Greenpeace published its ranking of 30 European countries and their capitals in public transport earlier this month.
Slovakia ranked in 21st place, sharing it with Finland, France and Italy. Only Romania, Latvia, Norway, Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria fared worse.
“Slovakia, which finished seventh from the end, does not offer the best value for money, according to the analysis in transport options,” Miroslava Ábelová from Greenpeace Slovakia reported in a press release as cited by the SITA newswire. “VAT is high, and the only things that facilitate access to public transport are our 'free trains' for children, students and pensioners.”
Greenpeace analysed countries according to four criteria - ease of ticketing, the full price of long-term tickets, discounts for social disadvantaged groups and the VAT rate.
High VAT on public transport
Director of Greenpeace Slovakia, Katarína Juríková, indicates that the accessibility of public transport is one way to limit emissions if we want to effectively tackle the climate crisis.
“Several countries in Europe are introducing convenient climate tickets,” said Juríková, explaining that by climate tickets they mean affordable long-term public transport tickets valid for all means of public transport in a given country or region. “Slovakia also should get moving and take steps towards a more civilised Europe.”
In its assessment of Slovakia, when it obtained just 5 out of 100 points, Greenpeace wrote that children under 16, students under 26, seniors over 62 and pensioners below 62 years old benefit from the free usage of all trains in the country – all these discounts are available for all EU citizens or people with permanent residence in the EU.
“Other than that, there is nothing progressive in the Slovak transport system pricing for which the country can receive points,” the analysis reads. “The VAT rate on public transport tickets is very high – 20 percent.”
No discount for all low-income groups
Bratislava scored 91 out of 100 points in the city ranking, placing it fifth. This is the second-best result for cities without free public transport. It was predeceased by Tallin, Luxembourg, Valletta and Prague.
It offers the second-cheapest ticket out of the 30 cities analysed, excluding cities with free transport. The price of an annual public transport pass is €199, equivalent to €243 after the price level adjustment. Elderly people, students and people with disabilities receive a 50 percent discount, the analysis read.
“There is no discount for other low-income groups,” Greenpeace cites, adding that frequent blood donors, anti-communist resistance fighters and former political prisoners can travel for free.
