Public transportation fares will not increase in 2023

30 euros to circulate unlimitedly within a municipality, 40 euros to ride in all 18 municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML). And each family pays a maximum of 60 or 80 euros, regardless of the number of people in the household. This is how the Navegante pass fares have been since 2019, when the fare system was simplified from more than seven thousand different tickets to a single pass with only six different modes.

Since 2019, the Navigator has remained fixed in price, also because the pandemic crisis has led to a reduction in the use of public transport. Next year, inflation could provide an increase in the cost of transport for families, but the government decided to put a brake on it. In 2023, public transportation passes in the AML and also in the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP) will not go up, nor will CP tickets, but there are a few things in between. Let's get to them:

• the transport passes that will not increase are those shared by PART, o Public Transportation Fare Reduction Support Program which was released in 2019 and that allows, for example, the Navegante to cost only 30 or 40 euros per month. The Andante, in the AMP, is also supported by PART, so it won't go up in 2023. There are other passes throughout the country also supported by PART;
• occasional tickets may go up in priceThis decision depends on the respective transport operators. These securities are not covered by the measure, nor are they subsidized by PART;
• the exception is in CPwhere all fare pricing for Urban, Regional, InterRegional and Intercity services will remain the same as this year's prices. This means that CP will not increase the price of occasional tickets or subscriptions (own passes).

The Government "decided to freeze all price increases of public transport passes and CP passes in 2023 while also ensuring due compensation to the transport authorities and to this company", announced the Prime Minister in a press conference on September 6. According to the executive's accounts, the measure involves 1.2 million monthly passes, will save families about 8%, and will cost 66 million euros.

According to the Council of Ministers Resolution that describes the measure, published in Diário da Repúblicathe Government will "allocate, in 2023, an additional sum to the Program to Support Fare Reduction in Public Transport, through the consignment of revenues to the Environmental Fund, (...) thus ensuring that there is no increase in public transport passes". On the other hand, it will "maintain, during 2023, the fare pricing in force in 2022 for CP - Comboios de Portugal, E. P. E., regarding regular services, upon compensation to the company"..

Similar measures have also been developed in other countries, such as Paris or Rome, which will also keep transport passes unchanged. Spain has decided to make Renfe suburban train passes free this year, an initiative that will have an impact especially in the metropolitan areas of Madrid or Barcelona. The neighboring country also has in place a 50% discount for multi-ride tickets, which accumulates with a 30% discount that the Municipalities and Intermunicipal Communities will be able to apply to metro, streetcar and bus tickets with the financial support of the central State.

Around here, the Free announced that it will propose that the next State Budget include a national rail pass - "basically, that there be a single price to pay for riding the train, nationwide", explained Rui Tavares to TSF. The "Livre" deputy, who is also a councillor for the Lisbon City Council, said that the price of 9 euros set in Germany during the summer would be difficult to apply in Portugal, but he believes it would be possible "to achieve a more realistic price in our country and still make it possible for many people to save a lot, at the same time showing that a bet is being made on the railroad".

The fare reduction and integration measures implemented in 2019 in AML were demand inducingaccording to Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML), which manages the Navegante. Between April and December of that year, there were more than 6.2 million passes loaded (an increase of 25%), more than 398 million validations with passes (an increase of 32%), and a total of 477 million public transport passengers (18% more) - of which 97 million more uses with passes (an increase of 32%) and 24 million less occasional tickets validated (a decrease of 23.5%).