Only 70% of the travellers obey the rule to wear masks in public transport, said Iulian Postică, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, making reference to the data provided by the National Motor Transport Agency, IPN reports.
According to the official, most of the bus and minibus terminals resumed work. Under the decision by the National Extraordinary Commission for Public Health, the passengers are transported only seating and they should mandatorily wear a mask. The vehicles should be disinfected. Not yet all these conditions are met.
Iulian Postică said the road passenger transportation is among the worst-hit national economic sectors. In March, before the pandemic, 88% of the over 6,000 planned routes were operated. During the state of emergency, the figure declined to less than 10%.
In a press briefing, Iulian Postică said that the vehicle occupancy rate before declaring the state of emergency was 40%, but now declined to 20%. The frequency of regular rates also decreased twice.
During the state of emergency, after the regular routes were suspended, most of the bus and minibus terminals in the country stopped work, except for those in Chisinau. As a result, the economic indicators of the terminals against the number of routes operated by carriers diminished.
To help the sector, the National Extraordinary Commission for Public Health, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, extended the period of validity of certificates of professional competence for transport managers and drivers. The validity period of technical inspection reports for buses was also extended and the first time limit for adjusting the buses that provide regular passenger transportation services so that they match one of the comfort categories was extended by two months.
The official noted that the halt in transportation services during the state of emergency led to the intensification of illegal transportation services. Sixty-four reports on illegal passenger transportation have been compiled so far and fines totaling 157,000 lei were imposed as a result.
