Situation with passenger transport needs radical change

The situation with passenger transport in Tatarstan’s capital needs to be drastically changed, stated Kazan executive committee’s head Rafis Burganov at a staff meeting at the mayor’s office.

The committee on transport and communication head Aidar Abdulkhakov delivered a report on conditioning the bus pool. In his words, of the 1,296 operating buses, 214 had been reported to require repairs.

“Since 20 June, 135 of the 214 buses have been conditioned, 79 are to be repaired. Before August 20, all the buses will be renovated,” pledged Aidar Abdulkhakov.

According to the official, a commission on investigating transport-related offences has since March 2009 been active jointly with the traffic inspectorate and related authorities. Based on the results of investigation, decisions are made including dismissal of offenders. Over the first half of 2009, over 20 drivers at Kazan transport enterprises have been dismissed. A driver is severely reprimanded for a first incidence of offence, is suspended from work for a second and is dismissed for a third.

Rafis Burganov recalled that a competition to select the best bus driver and conductor had for three years been held in Kazan. This year, the competition will be held between August 1 and October 17. “We urge citizens to actively take part in the voting and ask them to mark both positive and negative aspects in the passenger transport’s performance,” noted the official.