BKV
From Freepedia
BKV (Budapesti Közlekedési Rt.) is the unified public transport company of the city of Budapest, capital of Hungary.
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Overground and underground vehicles
The city-owned BKV runs an extensive network of surface mass transportation, including 1200 diesel buses on 200 routes, 15 electric trolley bus lines, 35 tram lines and five municipal railways. The articulated bus is a hallmark of Budapest. Such diesel and ETB vehicles have been running since the late 1950s and still form the majority of BKV buses.
The underground railway network is less extensive, including two full-sized metros (red M2 in the east-west direction and blue M3 north-south) and one small-sized underground tramway called MFAV. The MFAV line is more than 100 years old. A third full-sized metro (called M4) will be built between 2005 and 2011, as well as a high speed rail to the Ferihegy BUD international airport, which is currently served by a single bus line. – See the main article Budapest Metro.
Passengers statistics
Approximately 55% of traffic in Budapest, a city with 1.7 million inhabitants, is still carried by BKV vehicles, with 45% remaining for private cars. During 2003 all-together 1.4 billion people travelled with BKV. During the socialist era, Budapest had 2 million residents and the public vs. private travel proportion was 80% / 20% in favor of mass transit.
Funding
Since the fall of communism BKV has been constantly plagued by a lack of funding and its fleet is becoming obsolete (an average BKV bus is now 15 years old). BKV operates on a net loss basis; state-mandated ticket prices cover less than 50 percent of its costs. The state circumvents EU regulations by failing to fully compensate the BKV company for operational costs and amortization, thus funds for new vehicles are scarce. BKV survives by selling some of its old garage and repair bases for mall and housing development.
In 2004/2005 one hundred low-floor Volvo 7700A articulated buses were acquired via a long term leasing agreement from Volvo Polska because of a need to replace the 40 year old M2 underground line with surface transport for months of extensive reconstruction work. This batch of 100 Volvos represents the first significant new addition to BKV's fleet in five years. A decision has also been made to buy a single large batch of new underground railway trains, at a big discount, for the about-to-be-built M4 line and the rebuilt M2 line.
Usage
BKV sells paper-based single tickets and passes; a 25 euro pass allows an adult to travel on any BKV vehicle for one month. There are plans to introduce smartcard based passes and tickets in a few years in an attempt to reduce unpaid travel (which is currently approximately 10 percent of all passenger kilometers).
People with disabilities
Only a minority of regular BKV vehicles are accessible to disabled people (e.g. IK-412 diesel and ETB low-floor buses, Volvo articulated buses and a few stations of the MFAV underground tram line). There are a few small-sized BKV buses, which can be called by phone to transport a person using a wheelchair. The M4 metro line will have public elevators installed in every station. The current M2 and M3 metro stations only have escalators.
A thriller movie
A surrealistic thriller titled "Kontroll" was filmed in the M2 and M3 underground railway line tunnels during 2002-2003. The movie has won several awards. The ironic beginning of the movie features Botond Aba, CEO of BKV, who declares all events and locations shown in the film are purely fictional.
External link
| Public transport in the cities of Hungary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Budapest | Debrecen | Miskolc | Szeged | Pécs | ||
Categories: Budapest | Transportation in Hungary | Intermodal transportation authorities | Companies of Hungary
