Mayor General of Chisinau municipality Dorin Chirtoaca on October 17 signed before journalists an ordinance by which new itineraries and conditions of transporting passengers by minibuses on municipal routes are set. Thus, from November 1, all the minibuses will have modified routes that will bypass central Chisinau and will not overlap the itineraries of buses and trolleybuses, IPN reports.

The ordinance stipulates that the minibuses will be allowed to transport at most seven or ten passengers standing, deepening on the vehicle’s capacity. The highest speed will not exceed 50 km per hour and the schedule with the times at which the vehicle arrives at a station will be placed inside each minibus. All the minibuses will run in the period between 6am and 11pm.

The mayor said the route administrators will be able to reduce the number of vehicles on a route during hours when the number of passengers is lower, to three-four an hour, at an interval of at most 20 minutes between them. If the minibus route administrators do not comply, the contracts with them will be terminated.

Dorin Chirtoaca added that the minibus routes cancelled in July – No. 102, 110, and 155 – could be restored if the administrator proposes modified routes along secondary arteries. The routes of some minibuses were shortened and thus the minibus drivers do not have reasons to ask for higher fares.