May the 29th, 2023 - A big change has finally been brought in when it comes to the Zagreb public transport network, and the launch of the long awaited Moj ZET app (My ZET) has dragged the ticket purchasing process into the 21st century.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, have you recently noticed the stickers placed in Zagreb's public transport vehicles? The new QR codes on the doors of buses and trams didn't end up being stuck there by accident, and it was actually the sign that the official Moj ZET app was finally on its way to passengers who had until now had to purchase tickets either on board or at iNovine or Tisak kiosks. The new Moj ZET app was officially presented today.

It was tested out by Vecernji list journalists, and here's what passengers using public transport in the capital will be able to do with the Moj ZET app as of today.

To get started, the application must be downloaded for free from the Google Playstore (Android) or the App Store (iOS). For easier use of the application, it's necessary to enable the application to use the location. The location-based app offers tickets that can be purchased in the area where the traveller is currently located.

In order to receive warnings about the imminent expiration of an active ticket, the Moj ZET application must be enabled to send the phone notifications. In addition to that, the application is available in both Croatian and English. In addition to buying tickets, traffic notifications about traffic diversions, ongoing works, temporary issues and other changes can be checked in the application.

After downloading the Moj ZET app, and in order to buy an individual ticket for use in a ZET vehicle, you'll need to top up your eWallet funds with a top up of at least one euro, while the maximum amount you can have on your account at anyone one time is 50 euros.

The new Moj ZET application will display all available maps for the area you're in on the screen (so again, turn your location on!). Selecting the desired map starts the process of reading the QR code. If a controller wants to make sure you've purchased and hold a valid ticket at the time of your travel, go to the Maps menu, in the upper left corner, and select the controller icon. A QR code will be displayed on the screen, which the controller will then read and verify with his device.

For more, check out our news section.

April the 8th, 2023 - Someone making the decision to steal a tram, take it for a joyride of sorts around town, abandon it at a certain area and then go home, isn't something you hear of on a daily basis. But who could be the one who has committed this rather strange Zagreb crime?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, ''the other night just before 23:00, an unknown perpetrator stole a low-floor ZET tram that was prepared to be used as normal and drove it east to Tratinska Street, where they then left the vehicle and went off in an unknown direction.

The ZET traffic control and management centre, in accordance with the provided protocol, sent traffic control out into the field immediately after learning about it, and the police were also called, who found the abandoned tram at Tratinska 65. There were no passengers on the tram during the incident, and no one was injured, nor was the vehicle damaged during the incident. The police investigation into this is currently ongoing, and the video surveillance footage from the vehicle has been seized in order to attempt to find the perpetrator,'' ZET confirmed for Index when asked about this odd (and rather amusing) Zagreb crime.

"ZET promptly launched an internal investigation to determine what happened and who is responsible for this failure, so that it does not happen again," they added.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

January the 4th, 2023 - If you've ever used Zagreb's iconic (and usually blue) public transport, you'll have wondered just when it will catch up and allow people to purchase ZET tickets via mobile application (app) instead of at iNovine, Tisak, or on board the tram. It seems that we've finally got some good news on that front for 2023.

With the digital transformation seeping into just about every corner of everyday life, the green transition isn't far behind it. Tram travel is and always has been a very environmentally friendly transport option, and something the City of Zagreb does very well in, ferrying countless people around the capital day in, day out. Now the digital age might finally be catching up with it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, over the first half of this year, the activation of the brand new ZET mobile application, which has been awaited and being announced for several years now, is finally expected. The new ZET administration also announced that, in addition to being able to purchase ZET tickets through the new app, it will also be possible to check the tram and bus timetables, as well as the traffic situation in the city, according to a report from Vecernji list.

By the way, it's also worth noting that the up and coming ZET application is something that has been being waited on for many years now, but so far there have been no serious developments, at least not from this Zagreb city-based company. Buying ZET tickets online is something most would more than reasonably be expecting to be able to do by now, and it's nice to see that the powers that be within Zagreb's public transport are making it a reality.

It doesn't stop there, as addition to the new ZET application, we residents of Zagreb should also soon receive a renewed fleet, which will include twenty brand new buses and the same number of new trams.

For more, check out our dedicated news section.

December the 3rd, 2022 - An overhaul is on the cards for Zagreb public transport as ZET plans to modernise its fleet as part of a wider project aimed at decarbonisation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as part of the JIVE2 project, organised by the national coordinating body of the Croatian Hydrogen Association and the project partner, the Hydrocarbons Agency, the final event of the demonstration CEE bus roadshow was held recently in Zagreb's popular Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, which covers three geographical areas of the EU (Central and Eastern Europe, Poland - the Baltic region and Southeastern Europe).

This is part of an important EC (Clean Hydrogen Partnership) project, which aims to encourage the commercialisation of hydrogen-powered buses, i.e. the procurement of 300 hydrogen-powered buses in accordance with the European Strategy for Sustainable Mobility and the European Hydrogen Strategy, and which is financed by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership with the support of Hydrogen Europe. The manager of the project is H2LV - the Latvian Association for Hydrogen, while the technical partners in the project are the Messer Group and CaetanoBus.

Through the JIVE2 CEE bus roadshow project, the City of Zagreb and ZET d.o.o., they got the opportunity to test these technologies in real driving conditions, collect a large amount of data (telemetry), all with the aim of making future informed decisions regarding the modernisation of the Zagreb public transport offer, more precisely the ZET bus fleet.

The president of the Croatian Hydrogen Association, prof. emer. Frano Barbir, Ph.D., said that the transition of the vehicle fleet of public carriers across Europe from the existing fossil fuel-powered drive to clean energy sources such as hydrogen is still in its infancy, and he highlighted the lack of infrastructure that would support hydrogen-powered vehicles as the main problem.

Hydrogen, as an energy carrier, has great potential for decarbonising numerous sectors of the economy, especially where batteries aren't technically possible or end up being a more expensive solution. One of these sectors is the public city transport sector where hydrogen, used in buses with fuel cells, enables high performance and provides a level of comfort for passengers, all without emissions of greenhouse and other harmful gases, particles and noise.

Bearing in mind that back in May, through the "REPowerEU Plan", the EC secured additional investments of 200 million euros available for the Partnership for Clean Hydrogen through the Horizon Europe programme, and announced future measures for development. This is now an opportunity to use the funds for the decarbonisation of the Zagreb public transport offer.

Croatia took a significant step in this direction by connecting with neighbouring countries in the establishment of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley. It is precisely the funds from REPowerEU that strongly support the increase in the number of hydrogen valleys and all the projects that are being implemented within this initiative.

''This is the first step towards the implementation of the Croatian strategy for hydrogen, which we adopted back in spring this year, and I'm extremely happy that we've already taken the first steps. We're extremely honoured that the Croatian Hydrogen Association, as the national coordinator of the JIVE 2 CEE bus roadshow project, is part of the initiative towards Zagreb's decarbonisation,'' said sc. Ankica Kovac, vice president of the Croatian Hydrogen Association.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

November the 10th, 2022 - Canary Black, a film which stars Kate Beckinsale, is still being filmed in different locations across the City of Zagreb. Owing to that continued filming, Zagreb trams won't be running through the very centre of the city during the evening hours for several days.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, ZET reported on Thursday that due to the filming of Canary Black in the city, Zagreb trams will not run along Frankopanska ulica (street), Ilica, through Ban Jelacic Square, Franjo Racki street or through Zrinjevac during the night from Saturday, November the 12th into Sunday, November the 13th, and this will last until Thursday, the November 17th.

To be more specific, on Saturday, November the 12th, from 21:15 until Sunday, November the 13th, at 18:00, tram traffic will be suspended entirely along Frankopanska and llica (from Republic of Austria street to Ban Jelacic Square). This will encompass Ban Jelacic Square, Jurisiceva, Franjo Racki street and Zrinjevac due to ongoing filming.

In addition to the above, Zagreb trams in the same locations will not run from Sunday, November the 13th, to Thursday, November the 17th, from 19:15 to 05:30.

At the same time, tram lines 1, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 17 will operate along modified routes in both directions, and bus substitutions of night lines 31, 32 and 34 will drive through the Central Station instead of going through Ban Jelacic Square.

For the same reason, from Monday, November the 14th, to Thursday, November the 17th, from 19:00 to 22:15, bus line 150 will not operate either, ZET announced.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated news section.

August the 14th, 2022 - Zagreb's iconic blue trams and buses belonging to ZET (Zagreb electric tram) are set to undergo some much needed modernisation as Croatia finally begins properly entering the digital age.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, ZET recently presented a few novelties with which it plans to modernise passenger transport offered in the Croatian capital city on the whole. In the trams, they will install screens that will actually show the tram's route, how long it takes to get to the next station, as well as which other lines passengers can be transferred to.

As part of the project to modernise and upgrade the city's traffic control and management system, ZET is testing out some modern new screens that will make it easier for passengers to navigate the traffic system.

"For example, the screens will contain a graphic representation of the stops along a particular route, as well as a display of the time it takes the vehicle to reach the next stop or the final destination. In addition, when the tram is arriving at the next stop, information about other lines that use that stop, both tram and bus lines, will be displayed. So, passengers will have information about the possibility of further transfers should they need them,'' ZET spokesman Domagoj Zeba told HRT.

The screens will also provide information on the traffic situation, for example when traffic is diverted due to an accident. Such an idea is very welcome to passengers.

"It's great, especially for people who aren't from Zagreb and come here for whatever reason and use the trams and buses, so that they can get the information they need,'' said ZET user Ilonka.

An information screen is currently being tested in one of ZET's trams and is being tested out along different routes every day, and by the end of the year, the plan is to equip about fifty trams with these new screens.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

March the 14th, 2022 - Some changes are coming to Zagreb's ZET public transport system owing to global logistics chains and there will be some alterations in the timetable as a result.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as of today (Monday the 14th of March) ZET will be introducing a new timetable for the capital city's means of public transport that will reduce the number of departures on most tram lines and thirteen bus lines.

To be more precise, all of the current tram lines except 1, 5, 8 and 15 will be running less often. Line 4 will, for example, instead of every 7-8 minutes from the turnoff, leave every 8-9 minutes, meaning that in one hour there will be five to six departures instead six to seven.

This new ZET timetable, they say, is being introduced due to "global circumstances affecting supply and logistics chains". You can see the new timetable by clicking here.

A new schedule for ZET departures will also be applied in bus traffic, but only on lines 109 (Crmomerec - Dugave), 115 (Ljubljanica - Spansko - Jankomir), 118 Trg Mazuranica - Voltino), 121 (Crnomerec - Karaznik - Gajnice), 125 (Crnomerec - Gornje Vrapce), 172 Zagreb (Crnomerec) - Zapresic, 212 (Dubec - Sesvete), 224 (Dubec - Novoselec), 226 (Kaptol - Remete - Svetice), 231 (Borongaj - Dubec), 232 (Dubrava - Cret) ), 269 (Borongaj - Sesvetski Kraljevec) and 281 (Central Station - Novi Jelkovec) as was reported from ZET.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

Seeing as you're already reading about tram and bus lines in the Croatian capital, why not have a look at just where they can take you? Check out Zagreb in a Page.

January the 29th, 2022 - Croatian public services are under a lot of pressure as Omicron puts many ZET (Zagreb electric tram) drivers into self-isolation. Could the situation become unsustainable?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Omicron is spreading like wildfire through Croatian public services, and due to the large number of employees on sick leave or in self-isolation, some basic functioning issues have been caused.

The most dramatic situation at the moment can be found in Zagreb's ZET, which is lacking as many as 390 bus and tram drivers. Every fifth ZET driver is off work.

"I'm familiar with the problems ZET is dealing with at the minute. The new strain of the novel coronavirus has created some major problems in public affairs. A large number of employees working for Croatian public services are in self-isolation. This is difficult to organise properly as we're learning that drivers are becoming infected literally overnight. Some corrections have been made as far as the lines are concerned, the schedule has been reduced, but all in all, I don't think that people are overly affected by this situation,'' said Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic.

Railway traffic is also in trouble, and HZ passenger traffic (putnicki prijevoz) is afraid that this is just the beginning. One line, on the Osijek-Bizovac route, has already been interrupted.

"On Thursday and Friday, passengers will be transported by buses on that line. There's a noticeable upward trend in the illness of our employees and our employees being put into self-isolation,'' they said from HZ. At the moment, 19 workers who are employed as train staff and 21 workers who are machine staff aren't at work, and another 12 of them are in self-isolation owing to coronavirus infection, Jutarnji list writes.

In Zagreb's Cistoca, on the other hand, a concerning number of 70 workers are currently on sick leave, and there are only 2050 of them all together. So far, they say, this doesn't seriously affect their functioning, but it might. Coronavirus is also being regularly encountered at the Student Centre here in the capital. There are currently 45 workers in self-isolation.

"Existing workers are being redeployed to Student Centre restaurants where the sick leave rate has increased, so we're bridging this situation," director Mirko Bosnjak explained.

The situation is a bit better for the Public Fire Brigade in the City of Zagreb, as there are currently only 3 coronavirus positive employees, and 3 more are in self-isolation.

"We have a total of 330 workers, and we've been lucky, if I may say so, that not too many of them became infected at once, it's been happening little by little,'' revealed Commander Sinisa Jembrih.

Other Croatian public services which don't immediately spring to mind like ZET drivers might are also facing issues. Customs officers are very much struggling with the spread of Omicron. At the moment, 106 of them are infected or in self-isolation, but the Customs Administration has assured Jutarnji list that the traffic of goods and passengers across border crossings, as well as at internal customs offices, is being dealt with regularly.

"Constant chaos"

Varazdin County has had no particular problems with people being off sick or needing to be in self-isolation while working for the Croatian public services there, but it does have a problems with school and education system employees. the students of three schools are still taking online classes due to the spread of Omicron among their teachers. This number is posing an issue every day and recently a further 31 teachers became infected, and 15 of them were placed in self-isolation.

Medjimurje residents have a bigger problem with their local healthcare workers, although so far there are have been no real problems with the organisation of their work. There are about 30 employees currently ''out of service'' due to coronavirus.

Over in Pula, due to the current situation with the spread of Omicron, most of the Croatian public services affected are the General Hospital and the Teaching Institute for Emergency Medicine. According to the director of the Pula General Hospital, Irena Hrstic, this month alone, 155 of their staff fell ill, out of a total of about 900 employees. Of course, these aren't all solely health professionals.

"We're in a state of chaos all the time, so that hasn't changed. But, we're working and covering ourselves as much as we can, so we do double, triple and all kinds of shifts,'' she pointed out.

In the Vukovar-based utility company Komunalac, which provides waste collection services in the city, there are 35 workers out of 223 sick or in self-isolation, which is almost 16 percent of the total number of their employees. However, according to the company's director Igor Strangarevic, they're still managing to do everything they need to do.

In the Osijek Public Utility Company, 10 out of 88 firefighters are off work, which is why, according to Commander Zoran Paksec, they've shifted their work into three shifts, so people rotate more often.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Zagreb's public transportation company ZET reported on Thursday that currently 390 tram and bus drivers were on sick leave, mainly due to infection with coronavirus or self-isolation and therefore some delays were inevitable.

This city company has 266 trams and 480 buses in its fleet. The company transports more than a million passengers on a daily basis.

ZET says in its response to Hina's inquiry that it can provide electronic notes of excuses for commuting workers and students who happen to be late to work or school due to the current situation in public transport.

The company also asks the users of its services to have an understanding of these developments.

Mayor Tomislav Tomašević admitted today that the sick leaves were the main problem for ZET to provide services in public transport in a timely fashion.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 7 Dec, 2021 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Tuesday that an amendment put forward by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the city budget proposal for 2022 would be accepted to increase kindergarten capacity in the capital city amid plans to phase out allowances for stay-at-home parents.

The SDP is a junior partner in the city assembly to Tomašević's We Can! party.

"We plan an amount of HRK 52 million, which is twice as much money as the average in the past five years. An additional HRK 15 million will be set aside to rent facilities to serve as temporary kindergartens," he said.

The mayor said that an amendment regarding the stay-at-home parent scheme, put forward by the opposition HDZ party, would not be accepted.

"They asked that we take around HRK 200 million in subsidies from the ZET (city public transport company) to compensate for the decrease in allowances for stay-at-home parents. That would make ZET a lossmaker and prevent it from applying for EU funds," he explained.

Tomašević said that the opposition Bridge party was late with submitting an amendment regarding teaching assistants, which was why it could not be accepted but added that an even higher increase in the hourly wage for those assistants would be accepted, to make it amount to HRK 30. The mayor said he hoped next year money for that purpose would be obtained from EU funds.

The city administration will propose the City Assembly a budget in the amount of HRK 15.12 billion, which is 1.1 billion more than the revised budget for 2021.

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