Public Transport in Bratislava - Ticketing

Ticketing

Since 2002, Bratislava is divided into three zones (two from 2000 until 2002; in Slovak tarifné pásmo). Zones only affects travelcards, one-time tickets are valid on all services irrespective of route.

Availability of travelcards based on zone validity was/is following:

No travelcards are available for zone 3, since this is located out of Bratislava borders and have different sources of financing. As of 1 August 2011, all travelcards will be sold valid for both zone 1 and 2, however, zones will remain to legally exist since they are needed for travelcards purchased on or before 31 of July 2011. Zone-based tickets are also planned to be reintroduced once Bratislavská integrovaná doprava, this time only affecting passengers traveling from other village or town and using one-time ticket. Special fares apply to routes 801 (to Rajka, Hungary) and 901 (to Hainburg, Austria). 801 accepts the standard fare as long as the passenger doesn't leave Bratislava, 901 does not accept domestic passengers and therefore does not accept standard fare on any part of its route.

Tickets and travelcards for up to 7 days are sold only in some newsstands, railway stations and other partners, there are also ticket vending machines. All tickets and travelcards are sold at DPB offices. Drivers do not sell tickes (except international lines 801 and 901). There is special fare for night services, however, travelcards will be accepted after 1 August 2011 (until 31 July they are only accepted with night surcharge). Tickets for 70 minutes or 24 hours can be bought via SMS (Slovak mobile operators only), travelcards for 30, 90 or 365 days can be bought online at www.dpb.sk if customer owns RFID card issued by DPB or ZSSK or ISIC card with RFID chip personalized to use in DPB. There is extra charge for 70 minutes ticket bought via SMS, no extra is charged for SMS ticket for 24 hours and travelcards bought over the Internet.

Drivers usually do not check tickets (although they are allowed to do so based on their decision), tickets are checked randomly by ticket inspectors (Slovak: revízor). The penalty for travelling without valid ticket between 2009 and July 2011 is 50 EUR (lowered to 40 EUR when paid within 5 workdays). In 2007, Dopravný podnik Bratislava collected 55 million Slovak crowns per year on fees collected from "black travelers".

Since most of the funds needed to operate the public transport system in Bratislava come from taxes, coupled with the fact that the cost of the ticket system itself is substantial, there have been proposals from economics experts to abolish the ticket system altogether and cover the rest with taxes and advertisement income. The most well-known of these proposals comes from Richard Sulík, current leader of the political party Freedom and Solidarity. He estimated the yearly sum needed from added taxation to 400 million Slovak crowns that he proposed to obtain by raising the real estate tax by 30%. At least one Mayor of Bratislava electoral candidate ran on a platform of providing public transport for free based on the concept of Sulík.

A 10% discount on travelcards for 30 or more days is offered to owners of Bratislavská mestská karta – Maestro PayPass card issued only to residents of Bratislava. Bratislavská mestská karta is also used to hold travelcard on its RFID chip - since there is no photo on it, passenger is required to present his ID with card to verify that he is owner of travelcard.