Good bus news is finally on the horizon!
Something bus travelers and the leadership of Split’s transport company “Promet” have been expecting for ages should finally happen as the public carrier launches a public procurement procedure for nine used buses. This would, to some extent, solve the burning issue of vehicle shortages and old, rundown buses, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on October 12, 2017.
After nine months, the public tender for the procurement of low-floor articulated vehicles, currently the most needed for Promet, will be “reborn”. The estimated contract value with the potential supplier is slightly more than 18 million HRK.
“We continue with the work we started at the end of last year when a bidding competition was announced for new buses. In the meantime, this year's city budget was not approved and nobody said anything about opening a bid in January, so we had to cancel the procedure. Vehicles would be acquired through financial leasing for five years, and the money would be secured through the city budget through capital donations. We are choosing a leasing house for the best financing offer, and that will provide all the technical specifications of the vehicles we need,” confirmed Tomislav Vojnović, the Director of Promet, adding that the bidding procedure could be expected at the end of November.
The contract, Vojnović said, could be signed by the end of December, and the delivery of used buses is expected by the end of January next year if everything goes as planned. The criteria for the selection of vehicles will be up to the most economically advantageous offer and will include buses up to six years old.
Mayor of Split, Andro Krstulović Opara, supported the upcoming addition to the Promet bus fleet. Opara’s associates and expert services are tasked with helping and supporting the company in preparing the documentation for the purchase of new buses.
Vojnović added that Promet is also committed to preparing the necessary documentation for the project "No Regret" through which 34 new vehicles could be procured through one-stop financing from the European Union. It is good news, however, that the Split company will carry out preparations of documentation in parallel for another project that would provide them with a renewal of their fleet, including another 16 new vehicles through ITU's mechanisms in the development for urban agglomeration.
This co-financing from EU funds would amount to 80 percent, while the Promet co-owners would provide the remaining 20 percent of the money, and these are, recall, the City of Split and its neighboring units of local self-government.
This would, at least for the time being, bring the fleet to an incredible figure of 50 new buses, which would revive this company in every respect - not to mention that this would drastically improve the level of service to citizens and tourists who often use this form of transport.
Promet currently has 145 buses in their fleet, but only 15-20 buses work per day. The average bus age in the fleet is 13 years, almost double that of conventional vehicle replacement.
Translated from Slobodna Dalmacija
