BKV Zrt.

BKV Zrt. (Budapest Transport Privately Held Corporation)

Type	Zrt. (Publicly owned company)
Industry	public transport
Headquarters	Budapest, Erzsébetváros Akácfa street 15., Hungary
Products	public transport
Owner	Budapest Metropolitan City Council (100% public ownership)
Number of employees	13,000+
Website	http://www.bkv.hu/

BKV Zrt. (Budapest Transport Plc. – the abbreviation BKV stands for its earlier name Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat; Budapest Transport Company, occasionally used up to these days) was established in 1968 as the unified public transport company of Budapest, with the merger of the companies responsible for the different means of public transport: tram and trolleybus operator FVV, bus operator FAÜ, suburban railway operator BHÉV and riverboat operator Hajózási Vállalat. The Metro was added in 1973. The transport in Budapest underwent another reorganization in 2010 when BKK (Budapesti Közlekedési Központ, lit. Center for Transport in Budapest) was founded for the management of the city transport and infrastructure. Since then, BKV is the largest public transport contractor of the BKK, operating 4 metro, 5 HÉV, 33 tram, and 15 trolley bus lines, and most vehicles on the 231 local bus and 40 night bus lines.

City-owned BKV runs most of the vehicles of the extensive network of surface mass transportation in Budapest, with the emphasis on buses. The 1200 buses in Budapest (the majority of which are Mercedes-Benz Citaro) circulate on 231 routes. The buses are painted skyblue. Trolleybuses in red livery are operated on 15 lines. The night service is provided exclusively by buses and by the trams on Great Boulevard. The articulated bus is a hallmark of Budapest; both diesel and ETB bendy vehicles have been running since the late 1950s and still form the majority of BKV's fleet.

The road reconstruction program of the late 2000s (affecting 50% of the city's main roads) also modified the lanes, e.g. created separate lanes for vehicles turning right at crossings controlled by traffic lights. This reduced the travel time of the buses. Completing the eastern sector of M0 beltway around the city in 2008 significantly reduced traffic congestion, the inauguration of Metro Line 4 in 2014 further helped the situation. Competitive wages are still a serious issue as bus drivers are often lured to the trucking industry.