Chisinau mayor seeks GPS in public transportation

Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca instructed the relevant municipal agencies to start equipping public transportation units and service vehicles with GPS tracking devices, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Trolleybuses, buses, roadwork vehicles and other large-capacity vehicles should be equipped with GPS chips to allow the monitoring of how these transportation units move around. This will help us to clearly identify the work regime of these vehicles”, said Dorin Chirtoaca at the City Hall's ordinary meeting on Monday. Chirtoaca thinks this initiative could be implemented as part of a public-private partnership where the interested company could gradually recover its investment. Gheorghe Morgoci, the director of the Electric Transport Company, said the terms of references have been already developed, with the next stage being a tender contest to select an investor. Ion Capcelea, the director of the City Bus Company, said a GPS-based system was tested in 10 buses and the results were promising, as it also allowed to gauge the fuel consumption. The water utility Apa-Canal Chisinau has been using such a system for several years now and its director, Constantin Becciev says it allowed to cut fuel costs by 20-30% compared to previous years.