The cheapest ticket for one ride with De Lijn will be a quarter more expensive

Flemish opposition parties Vooruit and Groen are not satisfied with the announced price increase. Vooruit reacts to the increase in the price of tickets for a single trip in De Lijn. “This is absolutely not a good time,” says Flemish MP for Vooruit Els Robeyns. “The government should invest in more and better public transportation.”

The Flemish government decided on Friday that the cheapest ticket for a single ride with De Lijn will be 25 percent more expensive from April 1, from €2 to €2.5. Thus the fare of different ticket types is aligned: the m ticket in the De Lijn app will be the same as the SMS ticket and the traditional ticket, although the operator cost will be added to SMS tickets at € 0.15.

Flemish MP Els Robins (Vorwett) thinks this is not a good sign. “People have barely found their way to the bus since the Corona crisis. Passenger satisfaction is at an all-time low. Only now are they going to increase ride prices? This is definitely not the time.”

According to Robbins, the government should essentially invest in more and better public transportation. “This is the only way to tackle traffic jams. Only in this way can we do something about the air quality in Flanders.”

Stijn Bex (Green) also doesn’t think it’s a good idea to save on the price of one ride now. He wrote on Twitter: “Only when De Lijn has to get travelers back after the coronavirus outbreak.”