In a country where the vast majority of the population uses public transport (PT), since they have no other mobility options, it is essential to use the lowest price.

In order to analyze the rates, one must take into account the costs per hour of the bus, broken down into fixed costs, which do not depend on operation (depreciation, interest costs on capital investments, taxes, registration, inspections, etc.) and operating costs (fuel, lubricants , tires, batteries, repairs, spare parts, everything needed in its working life), plus its administrative costs: salaries, staff compensation, etc. The hourly costs of buses of different sizes can be determined by analyzing them according to the number of seats, the larger will have a lower price, and connecting them to the average number of transported passengers per hour, the cost of the actual business is a rate; which is generally different from the official rate, the control of this operation is another service which is contracted separately. If TP routes are short, low fares can be achieved, but many users will use several TP lines to reach their destination, which equates to high fares.

Prices are generally subsidized by the municipalities and can vary from fully subsidized and free for TP (Luxembourg, Malta, among others) or a price with little or no subsidy, in Zurich the price is $4.85, in Eindhoven $4.83. .in the Americas, $1.33 in Uruguay, $0.98 in Brazil, $0.85 in Chile (WPTCI 2023).

When fares of USD 0.3 and USD 0.4 are combined with the base wage in the Metrovía (SM) system, considering only one daily round trip and one round trip, the monthly wage impact is 3.5% and 4.6 %, and if he supports a family of two children, it becomes 10.4% and 13.9%, taking into account that in SM you pay only once by using various feeders and trunks. In conventional transport, transfers must be made, which can double the effect, becoming a critical economic condition.

Bottom line: hourly bus costs can be fixed; Passenger demand depends on city planning…

The daily average number of transported passengers will raise or lower the price; In T1 (Trunk 1) of SM, 2,700 to 2,900 bus-passengers-day (MUG-FvB) were transported, which made it possible to finance SM buses without subsidies.

In order for TP to be more efficient, the operating speed must be increased so that it covers a greater distance at the same time, takes more passengers and optimizes the number of buses; This speed is only achieved by giving SM priority over light vehicles.

Bottom line: hourly bus costs can be fixed; passenger demand depends on city planning; by giving preference to private vehicles, they will have to subsidize TP; If you give preference to classic buses with limited traffic, the subsidy will be lower; If you prioritize the Metrovía system by renewing it, expanding it, implementing T4, limiting the frequency of TP in food and giving it priority over other private vehicles, low rates can be maintained. (OR)