Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Anatol Usatyi said the rise in fares on interurban routes will be accepted only if the carriers ensure better conditions for the passengers and renew the buses and minibuses. Negotiations are held with representatives of carriers and they hope the problem will be resolved by the end of this year.
“We see that the situation concerning passenger transportation is very serious. The fare is a component part, but the quality and age of the vehicles should also be taken into account. According to statistics, over 50% of these vehicles are over 20 years old,” IPN quoted the minister as saying in the talk show “Emphasis on today” on TVR Moldova channel.
Anatol Usatyi noted that the system since 2013 has been conserved, also because social pressure was exerted to keep the fares. “This is not durable, sustainable. Evidently, at a certain moment the system collapses. The longer is the situation kept, the more painful is later the decision-making process. It’s clear that we should also not forget about the requests of passengers,” he stated.
According to the minister, a number of the minibuses used on interurban routes are in a very bad technical condition. ”That’s why, if we speak about the fare only, will the rise of 0.10 or 0.12 lei automatically lead to the improvement of the system? I don’t think so. If we discuss, we should discuss all the aspects of this matter. Currently, we are discussing not the fares, but how the system should be in the future – sustainable, self-managed”.
Anatol Usatyi said he considers the number of routes is too high and the old vehicles should be withdrawn from routes. Mounting protests is not something constructive and these will not influence the Ministry to take a decision. The problem can be solved until January 1, 2020 and there is a plan with the commitments of the sides and with deadlines. If the carriers go on strike as they announced earlier, nothing good will happen.
After the third protest staged by carriers, the president of the Board of the Employers Association of Road Transport Operators Oleg Alexa said the protests will continue and will be of a large scale if the fares are not raised. The carriers are ready to improve the travel conditions for passengers if they are assured that the investments could be recouped.
On December 11, the drivers of over 300 minibuses running on interurban routes parked the vehicles in the central square of Chisinau to show their dissatisfaction with the authorities’ delay in increasing fares. Over 1,000 routes were suspended. The section of Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt Blvd between the streets Mitropolit Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni and Alexandr Pushkin was blocked for several hours. The public transport was rerouted.
