Based on the results of the research conducted by Federation of International Automobiles (FIA), Czech capital city is now officially the fourth best European city with regard to public transport. Munich, Helsinki and Vienna are a little ahead while Zagreb, Ljubljana and Budapest came in last.
FIA focused on a total of 23 European cities, and public transport in Prague got the mark ‘good’. German Munich was awarded the highest mark ‘very good’ while ‘very bad’ landed on the transport system in Croatian Zagreb. Prague surpassed its competitors mainly due to its favourable price policy of relatively cheap tickets.
On the other hand, Prague lags behind other competitors with regard to time needed for getting from one place to the other including the interchange stations. In this category as well as in the category related to information on public transport and accessibility, Prague was given the mark ‘satisfactory’.
The main target of criticism was bad accessibility of Ruzyně airport that can only be reached by the bus. There is also a lack of ticket machines as well as lifts and escalators in the metro.
On the other hand, the pricing policy of Prague Transit Company was what really took the cake. “There are many types of tickets and the ticket vending machines contain instructions in English. Additionally the tickets can be purchased over the internet and mobile phones,” states FIA. Members of the FIA also liked the low costs and prized the fact that the monthly ticket will pay for itself after only about 20 rides. In other European cities this ratio is significantly less favourable. Even in relatively cheap Zagreb the monthly ticket will not pay for itself until a passenger has done 35 rides.
The Croatian capital would not have ended in last place if the FIA hadn’t have missed out on Athens. In the Greek capital, the inspectors several times weren’t even able to manage to board the bus at all because it took so long that their ticket expired. "We weren’t able to asses Athens because it wasn’t possible to identify timetables and prizes. That saved the Zagreb from the worst mark,” added FIA.
order |
city |
Overall mark |
1. |
Munich |
very good |
2. |
Helsinki |
good |
3. |
Vienna |
good |
4. |
Prague |
good |
5. |
Hamburg |
good |
6. |
Copenhagen |
good |
7. |
Frankfurt |
good |
8. |
Barcelona |
good |
9. |
Leipzig |
good |
10. |
Cologne |
good |
11. |
Roma |
good |
12. |
Bern |
satisfactory |
13. |
Paris |
satisfactory |
14. |
Brussels |
satisfactory |
15. |
Amsterdam |
satisfactory |
16. |
Warsaw |
satisfactory |
17. |
Oslo |
satisfactory |
18. |
Lisbon |
satisfactory |
19. |
Madrid |
satisfactory |
20. |
London |
satisfactory |
21. |
Budapest |
satisfactory |
22. |
Ljubljana |
bad |
23. |
Zagreb |
Very bad |
Source: ČTK
Contact