The REC's refusal to revise the tariff for private transportation will worsen the situation of the municipality

In Omsk, a conflict is flaring up in the passenger transportation market. The Regional Energy Commission of the Omsk Region (REC) refused to increase private carriers' tariffs from 18 to 25 rubles, considering it economically unjustified. As a result, the cost of travel in private transport is equal to that of municipal transport. In this regard, the Omsk City Hall predicts a sharp drop in passenger traffic, the destruction of the entire “ideology of urban transport” and chaos. Private owners and experts are confident that a redistribution of the local transport market cannot be avoided.

Photo: Vadim Kharlamov/Kommersant, Kommersant

The fact that the Regional Energy Commission (REC) of the Omsk region refused to increase private carriers' request to increase the maximum tariff for passenger transportation in Omsk from 18 to 25 rubles from July 1. the commission reported last Friday. “The carriers did not provide information regarding the tax component and driver salaries, so the REC used calculated data. As a result, according to preliminary estimates, REC specialists reach a tariff of 18.46 rubles,” explained REC head Sergei Sindeev. Five entrepreneurs - tenants and owners of minibus taxis - Mikhail Prokopenko, Roman Povarchenkov, Alexey Solovyov, Andrey Yalovenko and Valery Babaytsev applied to the REC with a demand to increase tariffs for passenger transportation. “If today at the board meeting the tariff is 18.46 rubles. will be established, it cannot be changed during the year,” the REC said. If entrepreneurs withdraw their applications, “tariff cases will be closed” and private owners will be able to re-submit documents and initiate a tariff increase. “At the moment, none of them have taken their documents,” the department told Kommersant.

This is not the first attempt by private owners to achieve a revision of the tariff for the transportation of passengers. In 2013, the largest carriers twice demanded that the REC increase the maximum tariff from 18 to 23-25 rubles, but the commission refused them this, citing errors in the documentation. After this, the REC initiated an inspection in one of the organizations, which requested a revision of the tariff; its results have not yet been made public. For municipal transport, at the beginning of 2014, the commission revised the maximum tariff, setting the rate at 18-21 rubles. From July 1, the fare on city buses, trams and trolleybuses increased from 16 to 18 rubles, making it equal to the cost of travel on private transport.

The refusal of the Regional Energy Commission to raise tariffs for passenger transportation for private owners caused the Omsk mayor's office to worry. “If you keep the same price for both minibuses and buses, then municipal transport and, in general, the entire ideology built in the city will suffer. If passenger traffic drops by 35-40%, there will be chaos on the street. There will be a battle on the most profitable routes, and the social function of public transport will begin to fade,” Omsk Mayor Vyacheslav Dvorakovsky said yesterday after a staff meeting.

The municipality's concerns were shared by large private carriers. “In conditions of fierce competition provoked by municipal authorities, some private carriers may lower fares even lower in order to attract passengers. This could lead to quite serious consequences for the municipality,” says Vladimir Zanin, chairman of the Interregional Independent Trade Union of Motor Transport Workers (74 minibuses). According to his estimates, passenger traffic in Omsk is decreasing annually by 4%, while there is more transport.

The municipality will have to fight for passengers, including by ousting illegal carriers from the market, says Ivan Menyailov, chairman of the non-profit partnership “Safe City” (500 minibuses). “If you remove all illegal immigrants from the roads, and this is about 1-1.5 thousand cars, then there will be no need to raise tariffs for municipal and commercial transport,” the businessman believes. According to him, about 3.8 thousand legal cars operate on routes in Omsk. The capacity of the local market for commercial passenger transportation, according to experts, is 5 billion rubles. in year. The average daily passenger flow per minibus is estimated by market participants at 200-250 people. Last year, according to regional parliamentarians, private owners paid 10 million rubles to the treasury. taxes.

Market players and experts are confident that a redistribution of the transport market in Omsk cannot be avoided. “The issue with increasing the tariff for municipal transport was not in the area of economics, but in the area of politics. Municipalities rushed to raise the tariff. As a result, passenger traffic may be skewed towards private owners,” says Andrey Fedorov, Chairman of the Board of the Omsk Union of Road Carriers. Vladimir Zanin did not rule out the emergence of new players on the market, which could gradually deprive the municipality of substantial income.

Olga Danilova

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