The information portal "Kosova-sot.info" published yesterday (October 17) an article titled "From next year: Anyone traveling with Urban Traffic will no longer pay in cash."
However, after verifying the facts, hibrid.info has confirmed that this claim is unfounded, as the content does not mention the removal of the option to pay with cash on trips with Urban Traffic.
The claim is based on an announcement by the Deputy Mayor of Pristina, Donjeta Sahatçiu, who yesterday (October 17) announced through her Facebook account that, starting next year, there will be reforms in public transport in the capital.
She explained that the trip with Urban Traffic will be done through an integrated ticket, which will be paid via SMS and the “QR” code. However, in her status, Sahatçiu did not mention that with the introduction of these two new payment options, the use of banknotes or cash payments will be eliminated, as claimed in the title of the “Kosova-sot.info” article.
Link to the article published on the portal "Kosova-sot.info":
Sahatçi's post on her official Facebook profile:
2023 is the year of reforms in public transport in Pristina! ????????????
With the exemplary mobility sector team from the Directorate of Public Services, we met with representatives of private operators that provide bus transport services on central and suburban lines, representatives of Pristina Urban Traffic, and partners from the EBRD to present and discuss the action plan for public transport reform.
Private operators have been operating for 10 years without a license under unfavorable conditions while covering most of the lines in the Capital. On the other hand, we have citizens complaining about service and lack of schedules on lines where demand has increased significantly.
This is the result of several months of commitment. We are on the right track, and the support of all operators is essential for genuine reform.
?? New fleet (31) from EBRD loan
?? New lines and redesign of existing lines
??New stations and mini stations
?? Integrated ticket, payment by SMS and QR code
?? Advanced traffic management system
?? New regulation for public transport
???? ️ New price list
Together, we can fix it. ????
You can find the link to Sahatçi's post on Facebook here. here.
Analyze:
The Deputy Mayor of Pristina, Donjeta Sahatçiu, has announced that there will be reforms in public transport starting next year. One of them, according to her, will be integrated tickets, payment by SMS and QR code.
This announcement by Sahatçiu was published by the online medium "Kosova-sot.info", claiming that starting next year, citizens traveling with Urban Traffic will not pay in cash.
However, Sahatçiu did not confirm this in her announcement, but only announced new ticket payment options.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info rates this article as "Unverified Content".
Reasoning:
The “Unverified” rating is given to those media reports that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which have not been able to confirm the same due to the lack or non-possession of reliable sources.