"Route-buses are getting more expensive," resent the residents of many Ukrainian cities and towns. "Drivers do not allow privileges," pensioners add aggrievedly. A familiar situation, is not it? Each local authority is trying to solve the issues with the transport availability in its own way. But what about the principles of the rule of law?

An unusual decision was shared by the representatives of the town of Yuzhne in the Odesa Oblast, which participates in the project "Local Self-Government and Rule of Law in Ukraine" of the Folke Bernadotte Academy (funded by the Swedish government through Sida).

There are more than 30 thousand residents in the town. There was a study conducted within the framework of the project, which found out that 33% of public transport passengers have the right to preferential transportation, and another 30% of the passengers are elderly people, who also have privileges. It became a key factor in making an unprecedented decision: a free public bus has been running in the town since 1 June 2016.

In order to compensate expenses for free transportation of town residents (except for priviledged categories) UAH 200 344 thousand were allocated from the town budget in 2016, UAH 198 202 thousand – in 2017, and UAH 211 600 thousand are planned to be allocated in 2018.

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