We don't pay for the ticket: how much will the children save after the cancellation of the transport fee

Yekaterinburg schoolchildren will be able to use the city's land transport for free from September 1. The authorities promise that later the change will be extended to the entire Sverdlovsk region. And the State Duma is proposing to extend free travel by land transport for schoolchildren to the whole country. For more information about the innovation and how much parents and students of Yekaterinburg and students of other cities will save if the measure is approved, see the Izvestia article.

What is known about the free passage of schoolchildren in the Sverdlovsk region

In the Sverdlovsk region, free travel will be introduced for all schoolchildren in the region, said Denis Pasler, acting governor of the region, during a plenary session of the pedagogical meeting of educators. However, it is unknown when the measure will take effect. Denis Pasler said that he had instructed the municipalities to work on the innovation.

"It's easier to do this in Yekaterinburg due to the fact that the whole city has switched to a system of gross contracts, and from the point of view of accounting and issuing, this is becoming more realistic. There is only one city, and the region is large, so we will definitely continue this work with the heads, I have already given the government such a task this week," said Pasler.

On Thursday, August 28, Yekaterinburg Mayor Alexey Orlov announced that all students of the city from 7 to 18 years old will be able to travel by land transport for free from September 1. In addition, as the administration told the local portal E1, underage guests of Yekaterinburg will also be able to take advantage of the benefit. According to Alexey Orlov, the transportation system of gross contracts allows for a flexible approach to providing free travel for different categories of passengers.

"There will be face control, externally the conductors will evaluate the passengers. In the future, students will be required to provide certificates from their place of study to confirm their age," the administration explained.

The decision to make travel free, according to the head of Yekaterinburg, was made after the proposal of Denis Pasler.

The acting governor of the region also instructed to work out the issue of reducing the price of travel for children in the Yekaterinburg metro by three times or more.

Will free travel for schoolchildren be introduced throughout Russia

On August 28, Vitaly Milonov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood, supported the idea of free travel and proposed extending it to the whole country.

"The idea itself is a good one, because children, especially if they are unaccompanied, cannot legally manage money, and it may happen that a child without money will not be able to use public transport services," he said. "Газете.Ru ". Vitaly Milonov does not believe that "there will be huge shortfalls in income." As an option, he suggested considering the introduction of a travel ticket for a student for 200 rubles.

Earlier, on August 18, State Duma deputies Sergei Mironov, Dmitry Gusev, Oleg Nilov and Yana Lantratova submitted to the House of Parliament a bill on granting schoolchildren the right to use public transport for free.

"As one of the measures of social support for schoolchildren, it is proposed to provide the right to use urban passenger transport (except taxis and minibuses) for free. At the moment, free travel benefits are valid only for orphaned children and schoolchildren from large families. It should be noted that the establishment of preferential passes for schoolchildren is the competence of the subjects of the Russian Federation. However, such benefits are not provided in all regions," the explanatory note says.

Currently, the document has been sent to the State Duma Committee on Education and has not yet passed the first reading.

How much will students save on travel

Izvestia studied how much money Yekaterinburg students (and their parents), as well as residents of other cities (potentially) can save on transportation only on trips to school.

The calculations take the number of school days from the plan of the Ministry of Education. In the 2025/2026 academic year, there are 168 of them. Let's say a student rides a bus/trolleybus twice in one school day. Then the number of trips per academic year will be 336 times.

Ekaterinburg

The standard price of a bus/ trolleybus ticket in Yekaterinburg is 33 rubles, the cost of an electronic wallet for students is 28.6 rubles, and a monthly pass for one type of transport costs 760 rubles. Then Yekaterinburg students will save money in a year.:

For cash/bank card payments: 11,088 rubles.
When paying with an electronic wallet: 9,609 rubles.
When traveling on a school pass: 6,840 rubles.

Let's calculate how much students from other Russian cities will be able to save after the possible introduction of free ground transportation in their regions.

Moscow

One trip to Moscow on a standard "United" ticket costs 80 rubles, on a "Troika" card — 67 rubles. A Moskvich card for students for 30 days with travel only by land transport will cost 405 rubles. Then Moscow schoolchildren will save money in one academic year.:

When paying with a Single ticket: 26,880 rubles.
When paying using the Troika: 22,512 rubles.
When traveling on a school pass: 3,645 rubles.

Saint-Petersburg

A trip to St. Petersburg on the standard "Guest" fare will cost 80 rubles, on the "Podorozhnik" card — 60 rubles. A monthly bus ticket for students costs 527 rubles. Then St. Petersburg students will save money in one academic year.:

When paying at the "Guest" rate: 26,880 rubles.
When paying by "Plantain": 20,160 rubles.
When traveling on a school pass: 4,743 rubles.

Novosibirsk

One trip in Novosibirsk costs 40 rubles, and a 50% discount is provided for a school pass, meaning the price is 20 rubles. Then Novosibirsk students will save money in one academic year.:

When paying at the standard rate: 13,440 rubles.
When paying with a travel card: 6,720 rubles.

Kazan

The price of a trip to Kazan at the standard fare is 43 rubles, a pass for all bus routes for a month costs 2500 rubles, a pass for electric transport costs 2400 rubles, and there is no discounted ticket for schoolchildren in the city. Then Kazan students will save money in one academic year.:

When paying at the standard rate: 14,448 rubles.
When paying with a bus pass: 22,500 rubles.
When paying with an electric transport pass: 21,600 rubles.

Nizhniy Novgorod

One trip to Nizhny Novgorod costs 40 rubles for cash, 35 rubles for a transport or bank card, and 700 rubles will have to be paid for a student's monthly subscription. Then Nizhny Novgorod students will save money in one academic year.:

When paying in cash: 13,440 rubles.
When paying by transport / bank card: 11,760 rubles.
When paying with a school pass: 6,300 rubles.