Buses and trolleybuses should replace microbuses on main arteries, study

The road network in Chisinau is overloaded, which leads to traffic jams, accidents, higher fuel consumption and more toxic emissions into the air. Thus, the solution is renewing transport units and reorganizing the routes according to passenger flows. Besides, the management of Chisinau Electric Transport Company (RTEC) and of the Bus Company needs to be changed in order to handle competition from private transporters. The conclusions were drawn in a study by the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul”, presented on Thursday, Info-Prim Neo reports. “In order to optimize the public transport system in Chisinau, we have to go for buses and trolleybuses on the main arteries. Local authorities could employ private companies for routes with a low passenger flow, but frequent circulation. Each regular municipal route should be managed by a single operator”, said Victor Ceban, one of the authors of the study. The report “Optimizing public transport in Chisinau” recommends authorities to think a new strategy for the development of public transport on medium and long term, which would include the creation of a specialized center for traffic coordination. “Because of the rise of private transport’s passenger flows, RTEC and the Bus Park are losing ground to minibuses and taxi services. In order to rise to the challenge, competition and quality standards, the city’s public transport must follow this formula: safe, accessible, economical, viable and ecological”, said Victor Ceban. The study recommends municipal authorities to build more underground passages, to enlarge roads by adding a carriageway and to install more traffic lights. According to experts, such measures would fight traffic jams, would create equal conditions for private and public transporters and would stabilize the passenger flow. Deputy Mayor Nistor Grozavu mentioned that many of the recommendations would be considered. He explained that the Electric Transport Company, along with the Bus Company, and the private transporters were on different sides, with different economic regimes. In future, they must be brought to equal conditions. He agreed that routes had to be reorganized and transport units renewed, so that public transport became more attractive and people preferred it to the private one. Finally, he said that enlarging roads would indeed help streamline the traffic. The study “Optimizing public transport in Chisinau” was developed within the European project “Increasing energy efficiency of Chisinau and Sevastopol municipalities based on existing positive experience”, by the Chisinau City Hall in partnership with IDIS Viitorul.