By the end of May, 20 new buses will arrive in Irkutsk

By summer, 20 new passenger buses will arrive in Irkutsk for Irkutskavtotrans, Mayor Dmitry Berdnikov said, stressing that municipal transport remains a key city priority. The route network is also expanding. Several new routes are already operating in test mode, and in 2016 a route linking Nizhny Lisikha with the city center will appear. Seasonal gardening routes will also continue to be supported, used by 1.5 million people last year.

By summer, 20 new passenger buses will be delivered to Irkutsk for the MUP “Irkutskavtotrans.” This was announced by Mayor Dmitry Berdnikov during the presentation of the program for the development of the regional center.
The mayor emphasized that the transport issue is one of the key ones, so the city administration is carrying out systematic work to solve this problem.
In 2015, municipal transport carried 50 million passengers. Commercial transport carried 2 million fewer people, the mayor’s press service reports.
– The key to stability in public transport is the steady operation of municipal enterprises. Irkutsk needs at least 100 vehicles. Unfortunately, no domestic plant can provide us with such a volume of vehicles all at once. It has been decided to purchase them in batches. Only when we bring the fleet of municipal enterprises to a level at which we can carry 70-75% of the entire passenger flow will we be able to speak of some relative stability and fight for improved service quality from private carriers, Berdnikov noted.
Work is underway to expand the route network. Several new bus routes are currently being tested, such as:
No. 5 “Kopay – Airport – Sovetskaya St. – Kopay”,
No. 41 “Airport – Novo-Irkutskaya CHP Plant”,
No. 67 “Pervomaysky microdistrict – Topkinsky microdistrict”,
No. 70 “Novo-Irkutskaya CHP Plant – Central Market – Kirov Square (via Akademichesky Bridge)”.
In 2016, a new route connecting Nizhnyaya Lisikha with the central part of the city will be launched. All of these routes were introduced at the suggestion of local residents.
The mayor also said that from April 15 to October 15 last year, municipal vehicles transported Irkutsk residents along 26 seasonal gardening routes.
During this period, 1.5 million gardeners were transported, almost 90% of them being concessionary passengers. This work will continue in 2016.
Understanding the full importance of gardening routes, we will continue to support them. I will personally keep an eye on this, Dmitry Berdnikov assured.