A streetcar named greed

Deputy Prague Mayor Josef Nosek insists that the changes to Prague transit on Sat. weren't designed to save money and were simply needed to bring Prague into the modern age. The Kč 400m in annual savings, he says, are a "pleasant byproduct." However, it's hard not to see a correlation between the reduction in service and the estimated theft of up to Kč 1bn per year from the coffers of the DP Praha transit company. If Prague could recoup only a fraction of the amount stolen over the years, the reductions could be much more sensitive to the needs of the city's residents. Instead, Prague considers this money sunk costs that will never be recovered. The matter is in the hands of the police now, and they have hundreds of offshore companies to sift through. Any time or money invested by Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda now in helping the investigators do their job could save other tram and bus routes in the future.