According to brief statement in today’s Beijing News, a decision has been reached on Beijing’s new distance-based subway prices: Tickets will start at RMB 2 or 3, with the average overall fare to run between RMB 4.3 and RMB 4.4 — a price hike that more than doubles the fare yet keeps it lower than similar cities in China like Shanghai and Guangzhou.

It also appears they are concurrently launching a discount plan for frequent commuters that spend more than RMB 100 a month on public transport: fares above RMB 100 will be discounted at 20%, while fares in excess of RMB 150 will be discounted at 50%.

Presuming the average subway commuter is traveling both to and from work 20 days a month, this should mean monthly commuting costs would average around RMB 150, or about USD 24 —  almost 5 times lower than a monthly pass on the New York City subway system.

No word yet on what the maximum fare will be, nor the distances at which the rates will go up, nor a timeline for implementation (which is not unusual as they like to announce these things slowly in bits and pieces, Chinese Water Torture style).

Previous announcements indicate the fare hike is likely to be implemented before the end of 2014. We’ll keep you posted as the details continue to be leaked out a bit at a time.

Table: Global Times