A shortage of public transport drivers: the authorities are preparing training programs for women

In Mykolaiv, there is a staff shortage of public transport drivers due to mobilization. The government proposes to involve women in education.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, told about this during the final press conference, NikVesti writes.

During 2023, the city received up to 30 buses from international partners, which currently cannot fully function due to a lack of drivers.

«The transport that came to us is: «Narbonne-Ukraine», one Irisbus bus, six Volvo passenger buses from Christiansann, three buses from Germany from our partners Mercedes and three Irisbus Crossway buses from the Czech Republic, which we received. We received 6 more large buses from Warsaw in 2022. We also plan to buy 12 new buses with the support of the Danish government, 4 of which will arrive before the new year. These are buses manufactured by Ukrainian ZAZ. I rode them, the quality is normal,» said the mayor.

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In addition, the city will purchase another 26 buses with the funds of the European Investment Bank, but in case of additional cooperation with donor organizations, the number of vehicles will be increased to 40.

«The amount was 4.5 million euros, the process of choosing the winner is now underway. We can say that the number of buses will be from 26. We are still waiting for the possibility of co-financing from donor organizations to increase the number of these buses. If it works out, then maybe up to 30 or up to 40 buses. And, in fact, trolleybuses with autonomous operation, we have already determined the winner, transferred the data to the bank. The bank is determined, and after that we sign and receive information about trolleybuses. This involves the additional construction of a charging station in the Korabelny district, so that they can go there, recharge there and return,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The authorities are developing training programs for women for the operation of transport. This already operates at the Mykolaiv Electrotrans utility company, and an additional program will be created for Mykolaivpastrans.

«We are preparing a program for Mykolaivpastrans. We are ready to deal with it, it must be done. There are a lot of women on the road, probably more than men. You have to learn to drive a car. But if drivers do not respect drivers, then we will move on to the creation of additional lanes for public transport on the main highways of Mykolaiv in order to teach respect. I don't see a big problem with women driving public transport, they still do. The only problem is their desire and we are ready to provide them with everything they need. That is why we invite women to study,» noted the mayor.

As you know, in November 2023, Norway transferred passenger buses to Mykolaiv. Each of them can accommodate almost 100 people, and they are also adapted for the transportation of people with limited physical capabilities. It was planned that buses would run to the Korabelnyi district. However, the city had difficulties with putting new buses into operation.

The problem with the lack of drivers also arose in neighboring Odessa. There are not enough people to work on the buses, which were donated by the sister city of Regensburg. Of the required 18 drivers, there are only seven.