Subte fares to rise from next week, highway tolls could more than double

Subway fares will rise from 19 to 21 pesos as from next Wednesday while a 55 increase for highway tolls as from the start of next year has been proposed, subject to approval in a public hearing.

Up to this quarter, subway authorities reported only seven percent of normal passenger traffic during the pandemic.

Premetro fares will increase from seven to 7.50 pesos, also from next Wednesday, while the current scheme of discounts for frequent commuters will be continued with 20, 30 and 40 percent coming off the subsequent trips once more than 20, 30 or 40 journeys have been made in a month, respectively.

City Hall pointed out that these increases represented an attempt to update at least partially fares which had remained unchanged since the first half of 2019, thus running "way behind operating costs." This updating was thus an “ongoing process," the City’s Official Gazette detailed.

"The decision to go updating subway fares and highway tolls had to do with the impossibility of maintaining such an outdated fare against the operating costs for these services," an accompanying communiqué pointed out. That situation of a fare outdated by the costs "became more acute with the economic crisis in the framework of the pandemic, later deepened by the cuts suffered in the City budget."

As for the highway tolls, there will be a public hearing in the next few weeks to discuss the 55 percent increase proposed by the Horacio Rodríguez Larreta administration as from the start of next year. Should this be approved, highway tolls will have been static for two entire calendar years after being hiked 35 percent at the start of 2019. 

In other transport news, there are new protocols for queuing approved by the National Health Ministry allowing for standing in buses and trains, always respecting social distancing, but only during rush hours (7-10am and 5-8pm).

– TIMES/NA