Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca concerned about drastic reduction in number of minibuses in Chisinau

Chisinau Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca is concerned about the drastic reduction in the number of minibuses in the capital. He told reports on 9 July that the City Hall will ask the Government to extend the term of replacing the reequipped minibuses with new vehicles. “We must allow the transporters to change the cars because not all of them managed to comply with the Government’s timetable,” Chirtoaca said. He considers that the central authorities should not take drastic actions concerning all the cars, given that the vehicles made between 2002 and 2006 are still new, and the Government should not forget that it allowed the re-equipment of minibuses itself. Though he is not sure he will be able to convince the Government, Chirtoaca says he will try at least to change the opinion of the authorities, because the town runs the risk of remaining without the minimum necessary number of means of transport. At the same time, the mayor considers that the attitude of the previous local authorities towards minibus owners was incorrect. He said that the development of private transport should be supported, because the private transporters saved the town several years ago and they provide services for a large number of Chisinau residents. Although he did not say what first actions the City Hall will take to redress the situation in public transport in the capital, the mayor considered the circulation of minibuses and of buses and trolleybuses on parallel streets as irrational, as this inconveniences the residents. At the same time, Dorin Chirtoaca says that the present authorities of the municipality will demand that the private transporters improve the conditions for passengers. The municipality of Chisinau risks remaining with only about 700 minibuses by the end of the year. This is only one third of the minibuses that operated earlier. The Government has plans to totally remove the reequipped means of transport from routes in the second half of the year. Only 1,250 minibuses operated in the capital city as of July 1.