NGO “Vision Zero” published an analytical review “Free travel, discounts and monetization of benefits in public transport in Ukraine and the EU”, prepared by Viktor Zagreba , Demyan Danyliuk and Anton Gagen . The review mainly deals with benefits in Ukraine and the European Union. As a source of data on the EU, a study from the authoritative international organization “Greenpeace” entitled “Climate and public transport tickets in Europe” was used, as well as an author's analysis of the legislation of five Central and Eastern European countries.
In Ukraine , the review states, there are 19 categories of citizens to whom the state has “by its own authority” granted the right to free travel on public transport in its numerous laws and regulations. Local governments have the authority to establish additional categories, and therefore in cities the number of “free” categories usually exceeds 20. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the costs of local governments caused by these norms must be compensated by the state. However, in fact, the state stopped implementing this norm around 2015, after amendments to the Budget Code as part of the “decentralization reform”. Thus, the state has been violating the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding preferential transportation for a long time.
In the European Union, everything is arranged completely differently than in Ukraine:
- The number of social categories of citizens who have transport privileges established at the state level is very small. In Poland, there are only four groups, in Lithuania - two, and in Hungary - seven. In the Czech Republic and Latvia, the list of beneficiaries is generally determined only at the municipal level, and the state does not interfere in this. All other groups, the requirements for them, and the amount of the discount are established at the local level.
- Similarly, a very small number of categories in Europe are entitled to completely free travel, all others are entitled to a preferential (discounted) ticket. Those entitled to completely free travel usually include children under 6 years of age, often people over 60 or 65 years of age, and rarely people with some type of disability. Almost all social categories that do not pay anything in Ukraine have to pay for travel in the studied EU capitals, although special (preferential) offers and special social cards are often available for them. The exception is Tallinn, where public transport is free for all local residents.
Monetization. The authors of the study highlighted the concept of “monetization of benefits,” that is, their potential replacement with targeted payments. The authors reviewed political initiatives to introduce “monetization” from Yanukovych to Zelensky, and drew parallels with the Russian Federation, from where the idea of monetization came to Ukrainian politics. In the European Union, the authors write, there is no monetization. It exists only in Russia, and there this reform turned out to be a failure and is being “rolled back.” But without going into the problems and experience of Russia, the authors logically explain why “monetization,” if implemented ill-conceivedly, will only harm the transport sector, communities, and ultimately the citizens whom it is supposedly designed to help. In addition, the idea of monetizing benefits contradicts EU Regulation 1370/2007 on socially important transport, which Ukraine is obliged to implement.
Conclusions: The authors do not make recommendations, but provide conclusions from their review.
- The state does not comply with the provisions of Article 142 of the Constitution of Ukraine , according to which “ expenses of local self-government bodies that have arisen as a result of decisions of state authorities shall be compensated by the state.” The state has established 19 categories, local self-government bodies bear direct expenses, but the state does not compensate for these expenses.
- In the EU, social groups in transport are primarily determined by economic criteria (ability to pay), while in Ukraine - by political, ideological criteria, as well as by tradition ("they have always been privileged"). Ukrainian legislation supposedly hints that all representatives of "privileged categories" without exception are necessarily poor and unable to pay for bus or metro fares, which is far from always true.
- The formation of state policy on benefits in Ukraine is centralized and post-Soviet , unlike the EU. In Europe, only a few benefit categories can be established at the state level (by law), while almost all social groups of individuals and the amounts of discounts for them are determined at the local level (decentralization) .
- Ukraine provides public transport benefits almost exclusively as free travel , which is another sharp difference from the EU. The policy of social tariffs in public transport in Europe has much greater flexibility and variability and mainly operates with discounts , which are coordinated with other systems of creating more affordable prices for people with low incomes and with public transport season ticket systems.
- The monetization of benefits is an “anti-European” approach . This approach was introduced only in Russia, from where this idea entered Ukrainian politics during the leadership of Yanukovych and Azarov. Attempts to introduce this approach into Ukrainian legislation were made both during the Groysman government and even during the war in 2023-24. These initiatives, however, are not supported by analysis and calculations, that is, they are not justified.
Public transport financing policies in the EU are created in accordance with EU Regulation 1370/2007 , which establishes the concept and mechanisms of public transport service obligations (PSO). This is the path followed by all states upon accession to the EU and it seems to be the only rational path of reform for Ukraine. However, the EU Regulation does not include provisions on the policy of benefits and discounts, and therefore this reform should be implemented separately in Ukraine from the implementation of the Regulation.
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