* the municipal councilors recently approved a change in the tariffs charged by SC “Braicar” for public passenger transport * it is not about any increase or decrease of tariffs, but only about the introduction of prices for a new facility: the ticket / subscription purchased online * they can be purchased through the application of the municipality "Brăila Transport Public", which can be downloaded for free on the phone * for now the application does not allow the purchase of tickets, but according to Mayor Marian Dragomir, this will be possible somewhere in early January 2021 * the subject aroused the interest of the liberal advisers in CLM, who requested additional clarifications, and even proposed the reduction of the tariff to encourage online purchase, but without success
Good news for people from Brăila who travel by public transport: from the beginning of next month they will be able to buy tickets and season tickets for bus and tram online. Moreover, they will be available for a trip, for a day, a week, but also for 30 days from the moment of activation. This is what the members of the Brăila Local Municipal Council established, during the most recent ordinary meeting on November 26. Specifically, they approved a supplement to a CLM decision of June 2019 regarding the modification of the tariffs of the local public passenger transport service by regular flights from Brăila Municipality. The current project was initiated by PSD councilors Valentin Pătârlăgeanu and Daniel Tudose, members of the General Meeting of Shareholders of "Braicar" SA Brăila, and it was established, among other things, that the new rates are valid from December 1, 2020.
In short, all fares charged by "Braicar" so far remain valid, with the specification that several new prices have been introduced, which refer strictly to tickets and season tickets purchased online, through the application "Brăila Transport Public", which can be downloaded for free on any smartphone.
The editors of "Obiectiv - Vocea Brăilei" tried to access the application to purchase such a ticket online, but the "Tickets" section informs the user that it will be available "soon". Contacted by phone, Mayor Marian Dragomir stated that the new facility will be accessible somewhere in early January 2021. Please note that Brăila City Hall first announced the purchase of this application for public passenger transport in the Municipality, in November 2019, when the company "Telelink", which developed "Brăila Public Transport", pointed out that it will be possible to purchase tickets through it, in the "coming months". More than a year has passed since then, but things are finally starting to move in the right direction.
As expected, the topic sparked discussions during the CLM Brăila meeting, after PNL advisers requested additional explanations about the application, the purchase of online travel, but also proposed a reduction in the fare for electronic tickets, but without much success.
What options will the people of Brăila have for online purchases and at what prices
The CA decision at SC Braicar SA Brăila from November 13 shows that the company "implements through the online application" Brăila Public Transport ", in addition to the information function, an alternative to the classic system of purchasing tickets and season tickets, online purchasing" . Hence the proposal regarding the completion of the tariffs from June 2019. In short, the novelties are: one-hour travel ticket valid for any means of public transport at the price of 2 lei; one-day travel ticket valid on all lines, at the price of 8 lei / day; monthly subscription for bus or tram valid for 30 days from the date of purchase at the same price as those issued in physical format printed from the distribution centers of SC "Braicar", respectively 65 lei; one week pass (7 days for bus or tram) from the date of purchase, at the price of 16 lei / week.
The councilors approved on this occasion the updated list of proposals for urban passenger transport tariffs. As already mentioned, the prices of tickets and season tickets valid until December 1 remain unchanged.
Thus, the price of 2 lei / trip is still valid for tram and bus and minibus transport in Brăila. The surcharge ticket in all these variants remains at 30 lei. Prices do not change for monthly subscriptions either. Thus, the price of a tram pass in the city (Vidin - Castanului) is 65 lei, at Combinat (Vidin - Combinat) 130 lei, at Lacu Sărat (Vidin - Lacu Sărat) is 100 lei and Castanului - Lacu Sărat - 35 lei . Regarding the bus and minibus transport, in the city, on all lines, a monthly subscription costs 65 lei. 115 lei on bus and tram for the beneficiaries of the special laws, 44 lei on all three means of transport for students. Also, 130 lei - transport with all vehicles, in the city, nominated, monthly; 58 lei - monthly social subscription fare on tram or bus, as the case may be.
Dragomir: The application will also help reduce waiting times
The topic related to the “Brăila Public Transport” application and the purchase of online travel has attracted the attention of advisers. PNL representatives requested more information on how to use it and make online payments, while insisting that the application should be easy to use and accessible to anyone. Thus, the mayor Marian Dragomir wanted to provide some technical details.
"If you go to the website of the City Hall of Brăila, you have the" Smart City "application" Brăila Public Transport ". Also, in all bus stations at the moment there is information and that QR code that sends you exactly to the download of the application, both for Android and IOS systems. And we also have Google Play for Android and Apple Store for Apple. Moreover, if we download the application, we can enter the location we are going to. Let me give you an example now: Hippodrome. It shows us how long the bus arrives at the first station nearby. 1 minute walk from here (no - City Hall). The bus arrives in 4 minutes, the second bus in 19 minutes and so on. At the bottom, we have the tickets section. When you click on this section, each passenger will have the opportunity to choose. It is currently unavailable, but will become available after a vote in the Municipal Local Council. Each passenger will be able to book their ticket directly from the application. And here we come with some novelty elements. In addition to a trip, so a one-way ticket, there is also the new notion with the travel ticket valid for one day, valid for one week (7 days), valid for 30 days from the moment of booking, not only valid for one month. I believe that, in this way, each traveler will be able to choose, depending on their choice, the one-day, one-trip, one-week and one-month travel ticket. It is a very modern method, and in addition, this facility, once activated, will help us a lot in terms of reducing waiting times at the station for passengers, "said Dragomir.
The mayor said that both the application and the smart display in the stations, as well as the on-board computers of the buses are connected, so that drivers will receive real-time information about the time they have to travel to the station and will be able to adjust moving accordingly, so as not to get to the stations sooner or later and so that there are no more delays.
Liberal Cătălin Canciu insisted that the application should be easier to use, so that as many people from Brăila as possible "so even people with less book science" can access and understand it. Dragomir insisted that currently the application is mostly used by students, from high school students to high school students. Moreover, he pointed out that it is similar to the applications used by other cities in the country, but also in the European Union, therefore, it should not present too many difficulties for the people of Brăila. Deputy Mayor Alexandru Jantea, in turn, wanted to "tax" Canciu's reply and specified that he could not agree with the liberal's opinion that the people of Brăila "would be uneducated" or with the insult of the citizens. Later, Canciu specified that he did not refer to such a thing. But the fact that there are several categories of people, some educated, others less educated, but that the municipality should serve everyone equally.
In his turn, Florin Gheorghiță (PNL) insisted on whether the validation of the trips will be done when boarding the means of transport or at the station, and according to the answer provided by the mayor, it will be done when boarding the bus or tram.
The Liberals have proposed lowering the price for online tickets, but without success
Councilor Cătălin Canciu also insisted, during the meeting, that the price of tickets and season tickets purchased online be reduced a little, by 10 pennies, at least by 5 pennies, just so that people would be tempted to use this facility more. However, the response from the director of "Braicar", Mihai Rusinoiu, rejected such a variant. The director explained that the company is already paying for the use of the platform, so it would lose if it made discounts, no matter how small.
"The problem with reducing the price when buying a ticket online is a bit more delicate, because, out of the 2 lei," Braicar "already bears a very small percentage as a bank commission. If we put the 10 money proposed by you over the 10 money that "Braicar" already supports, we go to 20 money, which means 10% of the ticket value and it's a bit much ", Rusinoiu explained.
In the end, Canciu's amendment was not voted on, and the bill was approved unanimously.