December 6, 2019 - Promet Split signed a contract to purchase ten new Mercedes articulated buses as part of the project “Procuring buses for Promet d.o.o. Split from ITU Mechanisms”.

Splitski Dnevnik writes that purchasing another 40 buses, which is expected to be completed in the next year, should reduce the age of the transport fleet to 4 and a half years, says Miroslav Delić, the director of the Split public transport company. 

“In the middle of this year, we signed contracts for eight buses under this program, so next year we should complete the story with 52 new buses. If we also mention the possibility of new 40 buses, including four electric buses, which opens a new era in public transport, then we can say that one important step has been made, both for us and the co-owners, as well as for the new administration. Thus, next year, around this time, we should have a completely changed fleet of Promet buses, about a hundred of them,” said Split Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara.

The value of this bus purchase is 30 million kuna, excluding VAT, and the city will pay only 15 percent because the rest of the money has been acquired from European funds. The City of Split will pay 4 million kuna for this procurement, and the remainder is already in the co-owners' budgets, adds the mayor of Split. The value of both projects amounted to 137 million kuna. 

“At the beginning of the year, when I took office, I pointed out the problem with the age of our fleet, which was 13 and a half years old at the time. After purchasing the first 34 buses, the age dropped to 9 and a half years, and from these additional 18, we get to 7 and a half years. When we resolve these additional 40 buses by the beginning of 2021, the average age of the transport fleet should be four and a half years,” Delić points out, adding that this would mean that Promet would be below the average of the countries they are compared to, and 80 percent of its fleet will consist of buses up to one and a half years old. There was a lot of work involved in participating in these projects.

"Of the nine cities that participated in procuring the first contingent of 34 buses, we were the only ones who went without a contract and penalty adjustments of 5 to 20 percent for each utility company, and when you know it's a 93 million kuna project, you know how much it would cost.

Once we identified the liquidity of the company at the beginning of the year and mentioned the problems with the fleet age, ticketing, no restructuring of the company, no systematization in the last 30 years and many other problems, I can now tell you that in the spring of 2021, all of these problems will be solved, and I am sure of that,” Delić is clear.

Today, there are around 1200 -1300 departures on all routes, with an average of 80,000 people transporting daily.

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September 26, 2019 - Miroslav Delic, director of Promet Split, talks about the integrated transport between Split Airport and Ferry Port. 

The number of passengers on Split's integrated public transport line in the first month indicates the desire of the people to ride this type of transport. It is already known that this project will start next year from May 1st.

Miroslav Delic, director of Promet Split, went into further detail for Dalmacija Danas. 

“We're still driving this weekend until October 1st. We started in mid-July, so in the middle of summer. At first, it was a new line, unknown to people, but within ten days the interest was very good. We also had full buses from Split Airport to Kastel Stari. According to the reactions, passengers were happy to avoid the crowds. As mentioned, we brought passengers from the airport to the ferry within 40 minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to drive to the station in Kastel Stari, and by the timetable up to 25 minutes by train from the ferry port. In a month, we had sold about 2,000 tickets. Of course, we started late, and the results could have been much better if we had started on time. However, we are already preparing for next year in the sense that we have an agreement on what needs to be arranged at the railway station in Kastel Stari by HŽ to disembark passengers from the bus to the train even faster.

They should arrange access to the Kastel Stari, and for the next year, we will strive to intensify and start at the beginning of the tourist season. I think this is a select line that really speeds up travel time for passengers. In the biggest crowds, the airport bus from Trogir to Split sometimes takes two hours. This is a perspective line that will only show all its benefits in the years to come.”

Delic then commented on the new buses that arrived on city and suburban roads in September.

“Of course, everyone is satisfied, both citizens and drivers. So far, there are no problems as far as passengers' attitude to new buses is concerned, and I hope we will all realize that these are not Promet buses but our common buses. Most buses are in operation at the moment, but there are four more buses left. We'll release them next week.

As is well known, before putting the new buses into operation, we have to write off the old buses and this is a process that must be done carefully. Putting several buses out of use for a certain period creates problems for us. We don't have too many buses, but just as many as we need. Some days the old buses need to be put out of service and the new ones put into use. Other buses are operational, rotating on various lines. After riding on buses over 20 years old, this is a big change for the better,” Delic concluded.

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September 4, 2019 - Here at last! Thirty-four brand new buses were officially delivered to Promet Split on Tuesday.

Namely, these are new 20 articulated and 14 solo low-floor city buses worth HRK 73.9 million, with the European Union co-financing 85% of this amount from the Cohesion Fund, and the remainder coming from the budget of the Republic of Croatia, reports Dalmacija Danas. 

Miroslav Lelas

Jolly Auto line d.o.o. from Šibenik delivered 20 Mercedes-Benz articulated buses, while the company Auto Hrvatska sales and service centers d.o.o. delivered 14 MAN buses from Hrvatski Leskovac.

The buses were parked in front of Poljud stadium, while an official handover ceremony follows.

By procuring these new buses, Promet Split solves the problem of old and outdated buses that create more pollution. This will improve the quality of service and the number of passengers in public transport, and reduce the emission of harmful gases.

Miroslav Lelas

Furthermore, at the end of July, a contract was signed between Promet and Autobus for the purchase of eight new buses by the "Iveco" brand.

“This is a continuation of that series, and according to the announcement, these eight vehicles should arrive by the next Sv. Duje celebration. This will be followed by ten more buses, for which we are waiting for the decision of the State Commission to sign the contract,” said Miroslav Delić, director of Promet, in July.

In addition to the Split public transport company upgrade at the beginning of May next year, a contract to purchase several dozen new buses should also be signed.

“So these 52 buses (in total) we are talking about now are not the end, but part of the process. This will reduce the age of our fleet from 14 to seven. There is no need to say how much more new buses will mean in terms of improved service and quality of transport,” Delić said.

Public urban transport is one of the factors influencing the satisfaction of the local population, and developed and organized transport represents the degree of development of each city.

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The first shipment of 14 solo buses for Promet Split, purchased as part of the "No Regret" project, which is 100% funded by European Union funds, has arrived at the MAN service center in Dugopolje, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on July 31, 2019. 

The new vehicles won’t be handed over to the public transport company just yet, as they need to be registered before hitting the Split city streets. It is anticipated that along with 20 other Mercedes articulated buses, which are expected to arrive in August, on September 4, all 34 will be operational on the Split streets.

In addition to the announcement of new buses in just over a month, on Wednesday, a contract was signed between Promet and Autobus for the purchase of eight new buses by the "Iveco" brand.

“This is a continuation of that series, and according to the announcement, these eight vehicles should arrive by the next Sv. Duje celebration. This will be followed by ten more buses, for which we are waiting for the decision of the State Commission to sign the contract,” said Miroslav Delić, director of Promet. 

In addition to the Split public transport company upgrade at the beginning of May next year, a contract to purchase several dozen new buses should also be signed.

“So these 52 buses we are talking about now are not the end, but part of the process. This will reduce the age of our fleet from 14 to seven. There is no need to say how much more new buses will mean in terms of improved service and quality of transport,” Delić said.

Throughout Promet’s technical and technological recovery process, the head of the city's public transport company confirmed that they would also procure an e-ticketing system, for which EU funds should be approved by the end of August.

“As a company, we are moving towards a better position in the public transport system, and we hope that the business will not show losses at the end of this year,” concluded the Promet director.

Mayor Andro Krstulović Opara also participated in signing the contract for eight new buses, and said that everything that will happen in the coming weeks and months would be the best confirmation of what started a year and a half ago when it was announced that Transport would assume an important role, not only in the provision of its services, but in transforming public transformation in Split. 

Robert Vrhorski, a spokesperson for Autobus on behalf of Iveco, announced the delivery of eight solo semi low-floor buses like Promet already owns.

These are EURO 6D vehicles with the highest environmental standard.

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As a model after many tourist destinations around the world, Promet Split has decided to offer one-day and three-day tickets on its bus lines for all passengers, reports Dalmacija Danas on July 14, 2019.

And the prices are affordable, too. Namely, passengers can now buy a one-day ticket for the first zone for 30 kuna and a three-day ticket for 75 kuna. For all other zones, a one-day ticket will cost 60 kuna, and a three-day ticket 150 kuna. These tickets just began distribution, and as Director of Promet Miroslav Delić says, they are already very much in demand. 

"We often receive questions about them, especially in the season, so we decided to make it easier and better for our guests and citizens, but also increase the company's revenues,” he explains. The tickets will become a permanent offer on Promet, because they are intended not only for tourists but for citizens as well.

Is Promet planning to develop new tickets into a separate brand, modeled on the Dubrovnik Card, which offers bus tickets with free sightseeing and tourist attractions?

“Of course, this is just the beginning and we want to make our services more accessible for our passengers. We have so far printed the sights on our tickets in the areas where we provide our service to promote our cities and municipalities. And in this way, we give tourists an idea of what they can visit. In time, we hope to allow our passengers tickets to tourist attractions, museums and the like.”

The long-announced e-ticketing system should finally be realized. 

“We're in the process of preparing for a tender. It's a new, fully-automated information system that would be installed on all buses and bus stops, and through it, there are different systems of use from contactless cards to all other payment methods. We expect the system to be in operation in the spring of next year.”

Will such a system enable buying tickets online, for example?

“Yes, and just the e-ticketing system should solve those crowds that are created at the ticket offices. This system is an ideal solution. There will be the possibility to use different types of payments and charges.”

Another idea is integrated passenger transport, primarily from the Split Airport to the Split Ferry Port. When can we expect this to happen?

“We currently have tickets with HŽ (Croatian Transport) that can be used for the first zone in the city of Split and the metro, and all our users who demonstrate their ticket can use the metro. We will try this season, but it does not depend on us but on the design of the train station in Kaštel Stari to integrate it, and at the same time make it the fastest transport from the airport to the ferry port.

In that case, the passengers would arrive from the new terminal of the airport to the train station in Kaštel Stari and further to the Split Ferry Port by train. The total scheduled travel time would be 35 minutes, which is by far the fastest form of transportation. To realize this project, we have to fulfill several prerequisites - one was opening the new passenger terminal of the airport, and the other is related to certain refinements at the Kaštel Stari railway station, so it is up to HŽ.”

How much would passengers pay for this service?

“We are planning for a price of 25 kuna, which would be cheaper than the current bus fare between the airport and the city ferry port. We have already prepared a contract with HŽ in that direction.”

Is Promet in conversation with Split Parking about another type of integrated transport?

“We are looking to provide citizens and guests with easy and convenient transportation around the city, so we have spoken with Split Parking about the possibility of combining a parking ticket and bus ride. In this way, citizens and guests would have the opportunity to park outside the city center and avoid crowds, and continue by bus.”

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The new traffic regulation at the Split Ferry Port came into effect at 4 am on Tuesday morning, reports Splitski Dnevnik on June 18, 2019.

The biggest announcement is an entirely one-way Zvonimirova Street, completely one-way traffic through the City Port, with no turn to Zagrebačka Street from the direction of the Port. 

Thus, Zvonimirova street, just like last year, will be one-way, and four lanes will continue toward the city harbor. However, exiting the port will take place in only one direction, via the Bačvice bridge. The lanes at the bus station are now turned the opposite direction, considering all buses will travel to Jadranska Street.

Furthermore, there will be a big bus stop at Gat Svetog Duje instead of the current roundabout and four new disabled parking places, and a new bus stop at Bijankinijeva Street. The flow of traffic will also change below the Koteks skyscraper. You can watch the video detailing it all below. 

The traffic lights at the intersection of Zvonimirova and Zagrebačka Street next to the Bishop’s Palace are being programmed for the new traffic regulation and will provide a better flow of pedestrians at this intersection with a better flow of vehicles. It is important to note the changes in traffic flow in the lower part of Tolstojeva Street, where it is no longer possible to enter Tolstojeva Street from Zagrebačka, but only from Zagrebačka to Tolstojeva to the intersection with Ul. kneza Višeslava and further to Držićeva. The traffic flow has also changed at Ul. Sv. Petra Starog where vehicles can travel from the intersection next to the police station one-way to the Bishop's Palace.

With this solution, the Split Ferry Port is more open to public transport and has joined forces with Promet to coordinate their lines with a new timetable. Promet buses will be adapted to the new traffic regulations and will increase their number of operations from the Port from 160 to 509.

The project was carried out by a number of experts including Trivium and the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy Split, according to the joint request of the City of Split, Croatian Roads and the Port Authority, to achieve a better flow of vehicles and thus solve the problems of congestion at the Ferry Port in the summer months.

"The traffic analyzes of this project have shown an enormous capacity with the new solution and with its implementation, we do not expect any significant traffic approaching the City Port. The City of Split, in cooperation with the relevant Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the state-owned companies (Croatian Roads, Croatian Railways and the Port of Split), operates a one-way traffic regulation in the center of the city and strengthens public transport, and especially the railways,” said deputy mayor of Split Nino Vela and added:

"We have introduced one-way traffic flow through Zvonimirova Street and the City Port, which improves the flow by more than two times, and introduces three times as many public bus lines through the City Port, which will increase the number of passengers in the City Port by three times (from the current 15,000 to 45 000). We also include the metro as public transport on the line from the City Port to Kopilica, which runs every 20 minutes for the fastest and most comfortable entry and exit of passengers to the City Port.“

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June 11, 2019 - The new Split metro officially began operations from Kopilica station to the Split ferry port on Tuesday. While the metro was originally scheduled to depart on its first trip at 10:11 am this morning, it left three minutes late, at 10:14. The trip, however, did only take the take four minutes from Kopilica to the ferry port, as all announcements said previously, reports Dalmatinski portal.

The inaugural ride was hosted by representatives of HŽ Infrastructure and HŽ Passenger Transport together with representatives of the City of Split. The first train ride was attended by Split mayor Andro Krstulović Opara, along with his deputies and many media representatives. 

Recall, a ticket for the new metro will be valid for 75 minutes, during which passengers can also travel on the Promet buses. The ticket for the first zone will cost 11 kuna. The metro will drive every 20 minutes and take only four minutes each way. 

Recall, Deputy Mayor Neno Vela originally announced the new metro to begin on June 9.  This new traffic measure will unload and load tour bus passengers at the new Kopilica station and facilitate travel into the city center. Namely, passengers can travel for 11 kuna via the metro from the Municipal Rail Station in Kopilica to the Split Ferry Port. 

The new measure also encourages buses outside of the congested city center to relieve summer traffic. We announced last month that if tour buses did want to load and unload their passengers at the terminals at the Tourist Palace in the city center, they are limited to 15 minutes and will walk out with empty pockets. Namely, the buses who wish to bring their tourists to the Riva will have to pay 800 kuna (400 for unloading passengers, 400 for loading). Until now, they've paid 50 kuna. Kopilica, on the other hand, will boast a parking lot for 48 tour buses, and the daily parking fee for buses will cost 120 kuna (the same parking fee as Dračevac). 

"The organization of the Main Railway Station in Kopilica and the introduction of the city metro in the service of public transport is expected to reduce the pressure of vehicles, especially tourist buses at the center of the city. Passengers can get to the center in just four minutes with the new metro and by using a single ticket that is valid for the train and bus, issued by the hour. City trains on the route from Kopilica - Ferry Port and vice versa will travel every 20 minutes,” reads the correspondence sent to the travel agencies, which is signed by Deputy Mayor Nino Vela.

The announcement added that these measures are being introduced so that the “arrival of tourists in the destination is as pleasant as possible, and so that they do not waste time standing in queues, but also to make sure that the local population feels less pressure of tourist flows."

This new traffic measure if just part of it, as one-way traffic will also be introduced at the Split Ferry Port on June 17.

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Slobodna Dalmacija reports on June 2, 2019, that Promet Split ended last year with a loss of 15 million kuna,  which unfortunately isn’t news but a long-term trend for the Split public transportation company. Miroslav Delić, who has assumed the duties of Promet’s director since the beginning of February, explained that such a poor financial result was due to a steady decline in revenues, a rise in expenditures and constant liquidity.

As stated, exiting from this situation will be attempted in the financial consolidation of the company, i.e., future business without loss, renewing the fleet, as well as restructuring the company while improving the working conditions and material position of employees. Delić admitted that after taking office and getting acquainted with the company, its state was worse than he thought.

“The first step in financial consolidation was made, and since March and April there has been better communication and mutual understanding, and through talks and negotiations with all co-owners of “Promet”, we managed to sign an agreement on the provision of communal services and compensation for the costs of passenger transport in public transport. Also, we are preparing new revenue-raising measures, such as the introduction of a daily and three-day bus ticket, and we will propose a price of 25 and 75 kuna at the next meeting of the Assembly. We also plan to increase revenues by introducing integrated transport on the Split-Split Airport route, where we will negotiate with HŽ Passenger Transport that, apart from the city's metro station, from June, "Promet" will transfer passengers from the Airport to Kaštel Stari, from where the train passengers will arrive at the ferry port in 35 minutes, which is considerably faster than a bus service on the same route,” reveals Delić.

Regarding renewing the fleet, we know that a contract for the purchase of 34 buses has been signed as part of the project "No regret", which is 100% financed by the Ministry of Transport and EU funds and their delivery is expected by the end of summer. Delić further states that at the end of April, the procedure for the purchase of an additional 18 buses was concluded through ITU mechanisms, which is currently in the process of reviewing the documentation and selection of the most successful bidders, so the signing of that contract is soon to be expected.

“It is important to note that in the last month in the Ministry, we conducted a series of talks on procuring more buses through EU funds in order to continue with upgrading the fleet. Everything has been prepared to launch a tender to purchase a new ticketing system, which has been discussed for years. All the documentation for this project has been submitted to the Ministry, and we hope that the funds will be approved soon to proceed to the procurement process,” added Delić, who said that in the coming months, Promet awaits further cost analysis and business rationalization and preparations around restructuring.

To conclude, Delić points out that there is still a lot of work ahead, and he hopes that everyone, and primarily the management staff, understands the direction and pace they have to go.

“Whoever doesn’t understand, will understand soon. To resolve all the accumulated issues we need a certain amount of time, but since neither our users, nor co-owners, nor the “Promet” employees have any more time, we must do everything as quickly as possible. The first test, which will show the direction we are going in and at what pace, will be seen at the end of this year,” ends Delić.

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In the blink of an eye and we are already right around the corner from June 1, the date when the temporary traffic regulation through the Split City Port begins, which will try to solve the problem of crowds on Kralja Zvonimira street and Zagrebačka street during the tourist season, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on May 21, 2019. 

The new one-way traffic along the Split City Port,  and further through Jadranksa street, Bijankinijeva street, and Pojišanska street, which all drivers but also many pedestrians can expect in less than 10 days, will also be reflected on the routes of public bus lines.

How this should look, in practice, was explained by Miroslav Delić, director of “Promet”. 

“According to the new organization, it is agreed that all bus lines that come to Zvonimirova street to the city turn right to Zagrebačka street (near the old "Slobodna" office) and then proceed to the usual route.

However, it is a key change on the routes that return from the city center, because after the start of the new traffic regulation, the buses from Zagrebačka street will turn right to the port, or to the new, bigger junction to be made at the current roundabout at the central bus station.

The buses will continue driving through the bridge at Bačvice to Bijankinijeva and Pojišanska streets, and further to the usual routes and destinations.

There are some 28 city and suburban lines in Split, and this way we can have 509 buses pass per day, instead of the current 160,” said the first man of public transport in Split.

Thus, apart from the bus lines 9, 10 and 15, the Promet lines 2, 3, 5, 5a, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 60 and 68 will pass by the port. 

As for lines 9, 10 and 15, after they cross Bijankinijeva, they will turn left at Pojišanska, at the second Police Station building, which will be enabled from the beginning of June and will connect with Zvonimirova and continue to Zagrebačka by Domovinskog rata street.

Due to the changed routes in public transport, apart from the station at the port, there will be another at Bijankinijeva street, at the Feniks store, at the site of the current street parking lot.

Last year, the biggest problem was traffic on Zagrebačka street, which caused the buses to be delayed more than an hour, disturbing the overall timetable.

“If everything goes according to plan, there will certainly be a better flow of traffic, which means that we can move between 40,000 and 45,000 passengers in the port,” said Delić and added that the Promet timetable should remain the same. 

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The people of Split, residents of the surrounding areas, and all of their guests will enjoy 34 new Promet buses from October 15 this year, reports Splitski Dnevnik on March 8, 2019.

Through a public procurement process, Promet has signed contracts with company Jolly Auto line d.o.o from Šibenik for the purchase of 20 Mercedes buses, and Auto Hrvatska sales service center d.o.o. from Leskovac for 14 solo MAN buses. The contract value is HRK 73.9 million, and the project is co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund.

In the Grant Agreement signed in 2018 between Promet d.o.o., the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting Programs and Projects of the European Union (SAFU), HRK 74.9 million, or HRK 93.6 million with VAT, was secured for this project. From this amount, the EU covered 85% from the Cohesion Fund, and the remaining amount is from the Croatian budget.

"The implementation of the project will solve the key problem of having an insufficient and obsolete fleet, and vehicles with a lot of kilometers which increase the pollution of the environment. Namely, by purchasing the contracted buses, Promet will improve the quality of service and increase the number of passengers in public transport, and reduce the emissions of harmful gases as new vehicles will meet the EURO 6 norm. The current situation has led to a decline in the quality of service and increased costs of vehicle maintenance and fuel consumption. It is not fully secured with access for people with disabilities, which reduces the availability of vehicles and general public transport,” Miroslav Delić, President of the Board of Directors Promet, said. 

The project is being implemented in the area of the second largest city in Croatia which has many passengers, and the general goal is to raise and improve the quality of public transport of citizens in the area of Split and its surroundings. For example, the contracted buses have a specially adapted space for people with disabilities and also provide unobstructed access from the bus station to the middle of the vehicle, or the second door. Namely, the ramp for people with disabilities will be located only on one of the entries on the bus - the middle door on buses with three doors and the second door on two-door buses. The buses will also have a special place for wheelchairs where they can be fixed with a seat belt, which enables them to drive freely and increase the quality of service.

“The modernization of Split public transport that we started at the beginning of last year goes on! This new fleet of 34 buses, which, thanks to the successful application of Promet, is funded by the Cohesion Fund of the European Union and the State Budget, will significantly raise the quality of our public transport and thus the satisfaction of our fellow citizens. Promet Split is a significant factor in the development of our town and county, one of the most important city companies whose services are used by thousands of Split people, our neighbors, and guests daily. That is why it is important to have the highest level of service, which means all available, secure and accurate buses. No less important is the fact that new buses will contribute to better environmental protection, but what I am most looking forward to is that our fellow citizens with special needs will have far easier access to public transport,” said Andro Krstulović Opara, mayor of the City of Split.

Promet d.o.o. carries out transport on 24 local lines, 41 county lines and 3 intercity lines, mostly in the area of Split, Solin, Kaštela, Trogir and Omiš, Primorski Dolac, Prgomet, Lećevica, Klis, Dugopolje, Marina, Muć, Podstrana, Seget, Šolta, and Šestanovac. The length of all lines is about 1,660 kilometers.

At the end of 2017, Promet had a fleet of 146 buses of various brands, types and purposes, with an average age of about 12 years. In January 2018, nine used articulated city vehicles were purchased, with the current state of 155 buses. Of the 668 employees of Promet, 340 drivers transport more than 34.6 million passengers a year and travel around 8.7 million kilometers.

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