«The situation is critical»: residents of Voznesensk complain about interruptions in public transport

Problems with public transport in Voznesensk, illustrative photo: molbuk.ua

For several weeks now, Voznesensk has been experiencing problems with public transport: private carriers have not been running buses on their routes, and residents are only informed about this after the fact.

NikVesti talked to the town's residents to find out more about the situation.

As you know, on 5 December, a meeting was held in Voznesensk due to numerous complaints from residents about disruptions in public transport. In particular, the meeting was attended by Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Myzhalo and Administrative Officer of the District State Administration Olena Maksiutenko. During the discussion, they came to the conclusion that the main problem is the shortage of drivers.

According to local residents, the problems with public transport began about a month or two ago: buses often fail to run their routes or change direction.

«I can't say exactly when the problem started, but it must have been a month or two ago. Before that, there were some problems, but not so often. I take the sixth route: it leaves at seven in the morning from our cheese factory and goes to the city centre. Of course, there are a lot of stops, a lot of people, children going to kindergartens, schools, and work. The route used to run normally, but one morning it suddenly stopped. One day, the next... At first we thought it was a breakdown, because buses often break down. Lately, this has been happening very often — a day, two, three, a week. Then we find out that it was simply transferred to another route. [...] The sixth route has been missing for two weeks during the day. At 8am it still runs, and then it's gone. It may or may not be there in the evening,» Nataliia Shchur told us in a comment.

Residents of Voznesensk complain about interruptions in public transport, screenshot from the group «Voznesensk market»

Residents of Voznesensk complain about disruptions in public transport, screenshot from the group «Voznesensk market»

According to her, because of this problem, people are often forced to walk several kilometres to get to work or school.

«The situation is critical because we are talking about people of all ages: there are many pensioners and working people who have to walk three or four kilometres to the centre. There are also children. We walk, and when it rains, we take a taxi,» added Nataliia Shchur.

It should be noted that the official website of the Voznesensk City Council has a list of carriers and routes in the city. Among them:

• Additional Liability Company «Voznesenskavtotrans» serves routes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.2, 7, 9, 10, 11/A, 15, 19, 23 and 24.

• Individual entrepreneur Pipiia M.N. operates routes 22, 35, 35/1, 35/2, 36 and 37.

• Individual entrepreneur Novak V.A. operates routes 31 and 32.

• Also, Voznesenskavtotrans LLC serves route 33.

We would like to add that the executive committee is responsible for concluding contracts with carriers and controlling the performance of passenger transportation.

Meeting on the absence of certain city routes, photo: Voznesensk City Council

In addition, the Voznesensk City Council has announced vacancies for those wishing to work as drivers. The editorial staff of NikVesti tried to clarify the details by calling the number indicated in the message (095-125-22-36), but the person who answered the phone said that he no longer worked at this number.

«The problems probably started in the summer, but at first they were not significant. A large-scale crisis arose a month or two ago, when the TCC took the boys away, and the head of the transport company did not provide for his employees and did not intervene. In addition, the drivers were forced to repair the vehicles at their own expense, and no one is interested in this. Now the city is actually left without normal transport [...] After three in the afternoon, nothing runs at all. I've just had my cast removed, and if I can't get home by taxi, I have to look for another option,» local resident Halyna Semernia told us in a comment.

We tried to get a comment from Maksym Popenko, the head of the Department of Housing and Communal Services of Voznesensk City Council, but he refused to talk by phone and said that a comment was possible only upon an official request. We also contacted Oleksandr Myzhalo, Deputy Mayor for the activities of the executive bodies of the city council, but have not yet received a response from him.

As a reminder, today, 22 December, tram route №3 «ChSZ — 10 Voienna» resumed running in Mykolaiv.