Chisinau needs at least 250 new buses that should be purchased during the next four years, said the local administration’s working group that presented technical solutions for developing the municipal public transport system. The choice was made in favor of buses with the capacity of 107 places and diesel engine Euro 5. The price of such a bus is €135,000. To buy the buses, the municipality will take out a loan and the first 100 vehicles could be delivered to Chisinau by the end of this year, IPN reports.
Deputy head of the Action and Solidarity Party’;s group on the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) Alexandr Trubca told a news conference that the estimates of the working group show that 150-155 buses are needed to satisfy the needs of suburban settlements alone. Also, the working group recommends the Chisinau Electric Transport Company to take part in the tender contest staged by the Riga City Hall for purchasing 18 articulated trolleybuses that had been used, but are in a very good state.
The plan proposed by the working group envisions the implementation of electronic ticketing by the middle of next year and the merger of the Urban Bus Company and the Chisinau Electric Transport Company into one public transport services provider with a single ticketing system.
According to Alexandr Trubca, the implementation of the plan of action will enable to fully remove the minibuses from the municipality in 2021.
Vladimir Mitru, adviser to mayor Ion Ceban, said that creating a working group on electronic ticketing, which will ensure transparency in the sale of tickets, will be proposed at the Chisinau Council’s meeting of May 19.
National Unity Party councilor Corneliu Pântea said that public debates on the issue will be held on May 18 and representatives of civil society will be invited to these.
According to deputy mayor Victor Chironda, more initiatives will be proposed to make sure that the units of transport that will be bought are used maximally efficiently. These will refer to parking systems, modernization of public transport stations, lanes intended for public transport, etc.
At the start of March, mayor Ion Ceban asked the CMC to approve financing for the purchase of 100 buses in cooperation with the Belarusian company Samasz. The initiative generated questions among councils and a working group was thus constituted. The councilors didn’t agree with the assembly timeframes and pointed to the lack of transparency in the selection of the supplier.
