A new announcement from Strætó, the capital area bus service, outlines how fares are going to be raised effective October 1st.
Both regular fares and period passes will be given a 12.5% price increase. As such, a single fare will go from 490 ISK to 550 ISK, and a 30-day student card will go from 4,000 ISK to 4,500 ISK. The new prices for all other services can be found at the bottom of this page.
Strætó points out that price changes have not been made since the 2020/2021 period, but also that increased operational costs play a role.
“The price increases are intended to cover general cost price increases for Strætó, such as oil price increases, but oil prices have risen by almost 40% since the beginning of the year and costs due to shortening of the work week, which have had a significant impact on the operation,” the announcement reads in part. “The effects of the COVID pandemic are still being felt in the operations and it looks like the cumulative impact on income is in the range of 1500 million to 2000 m.kr.”
That said, Strætó emphasise that the increased prices will also go towards making their service better, and to reduce the need to cut services further, adding, “Strætó is aiming for a carbon-free buses in 2030, which will make the impact of oil prices on Strætó’s operations insignificant.”
In case you were curious, Strætó also points out that according to data from the Icelandic Automobile Association, the cost of driving a car 15,000km per year rounds out to about 1.3 million ISK, “and it is therefore clear that it is still more practical to use public transport.”
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