According to a draft decision by the Tashkent City Council, starting October 1, the one-time public transport fare is proposed to be set at 2,500 soums for electronic payment and 3,000 soums for cash. The current fare is 1,700 soums, meaning a 47% increase for electronic payment. The draft is open for public discussion until September 19.
The new limited fares are proposed for bus routes and the metro in the capital. The fee for carrying baggage is proposed at 4,000 soums. All amounts include VAT. The draft also envisions new fare plans for transport cards based on the number of trips, as well as discounted and free transfers between public transport modes within one hour.
Unlimited fares are proposed for bus-only travel, as well as for combined bus and metro travel. Additionally, trip packages with a 23% discount from the full price are proposed. When using bus and metro together, the first trip costs 2,500 soums, and subsequent transfers cost 1,500 soums or are free depending on the sequence of trips. Within the one-hour tariff, only one metro entry is proposed. If re-entering the metro, the 60-minute countdown restarts.
The fare increase is proposed amid rising costs of subsidizing public transport. According to forecasts, in 2026 the volume of services will amount to 2.3 trillion soums, while revenue from fare payments will be only 630 billion soums, or about 27.4%. The need for budget financing is estimated at 1.7 trillion soums. In August, the Institute for Reducing the Share of the Shadow Economy under the Ministry of Economy and Finance proposed gradually bringing public transport tariffs closer to economically justified levels.
According to the institute, in 2026 subsidies for public transport reached 1.385 trillion soums. In Tashkent, 65.1% of transport system costs are covered by subsidies. It was also proposed to optimize underutilized routes and link payments to carriers with service quality indicators. The last fare increase in Tashkent public transport was in November 2023, from 1,400 to 1,700 soums.
Source: www.gazeta.uz