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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