From mid-December, a cashless ride on public transport in Astana will cost 150 tenge. The current fare is 110 tenge.
The city administration said the 90-tenge fare was set in 2014 and has been revised once since then. Over the same period, carriers’ costs for fuel, spare parts, new buses and drivers’ wages have increased.
Diesel fuel now costs 329 tenge per litre, compared with about 107 tenge in 2014. Drivers’ average pay, which was around 100,000–150,000 tenge at the time, now starts at 700,000 tenge, depending on the bus class and work schedule.
Carriers have purchased 1,127 new vehicles over the past three years. The buses meet modern safety, comfort and environmental standards. Free travel will remain available to specified groups of residents.
These include veterans and people with disabilities from the Great Patriotic War, people treated as equivalent to them, pensioners, mothers and families with many children, people with disabilities, children with disabilities under 18 and one of their parents or legal representatives. The benefit also covers rehabilitated participants in the events of December 17–18, 1986, in Kazakhstan.
Since March 2020, children under 18 studying in Astana have also been eligible for free travel. The city administration cited rising operating costs and the need to ensure reliable public transport, renew the bus fleet and develop the route network as reasons for the fare change.
