Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov has announced that free rides on city public transport will remain in place even after the war ends. He made the statement in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
According to Terekhov, despite the extremely difficult conditions caused by constant shelling and the destruction of infrastructure, the city government is deliberately maintaining free public transport for all residents, including over 200,000 internally displaced people from other regions of Ukraine.
“Even if it costs more, we will continue it even after the end of the war,” Terekhov emphasized, referring to the budget cost of around 2 billion hryvnias per year to cover these services.
He explained that free transport is a key form of social support for people living through war and noted that many cities in the European Union already offer free public transport for residents.
The mayor also pointed out that all public transport in Kharkiv is municipally owned, unlike other Ukrainian cities that rely on private operators.