From December 13, a new, fast and direct bus service, the 223E metro bus, will provide a connection between Pesterzsébet and the city center, Mayor Gergely Karácsony announced on his Facebook page.
According to the post, with the new service from the Budapest Transport Center (BKK), residents of Pesterzsébet will be able to reach the heart of the city center and metro lines 3 and 4 more comfortably, with a journey time reduced by up to ten minutes and no need to change buses.
He recalled that, in line with the February announcement, BKK had spent the past six months preparing for the implementation of the metro bus concept.
As part of the public transport network development strategy, data-based analyses were used to evaluate the efficiency of Budapest’s public transport system, and on this basis, areas of the city were identified where faster and more frequent bus lanes could be created to provide better service than before. Metro buses can run on these lanes,”
wrote the mayor.
Gergely Karácsony also emphasized that in the medium and long term, the best solution remains fixed-track developments (railway, HÉV, metro, tram), but, as he pointed out, these are time and money-intensive investments, and until they are implemented, residents of the outer districts must be served, for example, by expanding the bus and trolleybus network.
The 223E metro bus allows more than 100,000 Budapest residents to reach the city center: instead of terminating at Boráros Square, this service will continue along Közraktár Street, Fővám Square and Vámház Boulevard to Kálvin Square, and then return to Pesterzsébet via Üllői Road, Ferenc Boulevard and Boráros Square.
As part of the development, BKK will create a new bus lane between Boráros Square and Bakáts Street, as well as new, more comfortable stops in the downtown section, including Kálvin Square and Ferenc Boulevard.
The metro bus’s operating hours will also be extended, running every day from around 4:30 a.m. to 11:50 p.m.,
the mayor wrote.
He announced that BKK is working on launching more express services operating on a similar principle from other outer districts of the capital.
BKK will also introduce a new winter MOL Bubi pass on December 23. According to information from the Budapest Transport Center (BKK), the currently available MOL Bubi passes can be purchased until November 22, after which the most affordable way to use the bicycles will be with a new scheme, the 500-forint winter Bubi pass.
Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Karácsony Gergely
The post Budapest Launches New Express Bus to Improve City Center Access from Suburbs appeared first on Hungary Today.
