Lysak decides to allow humanitarian buses in Odesa to run on free routes

The head of the Odesa City Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, has instructed the city to develop social routes for certain categories of residents to be used by humanitarian buses.

According to the head of the MMA, the routes should allow passengers to get to hospitals, social institutions, train stations and other important city facilities free of charge.

"Humanitarian buses that our city received from sister cities have been idle in Odesa for more than a year. These are vehicles that should serve people, not be parked at the sites," the official said.

According to Mr. Lysak, the executive committee of the city council will soon consider the relevant decision. Once it is approved, the list of routes, schedule and categories of passengers who will be able to use social transport free of charge will be made public.

Earlier, Petro Obukhov , chairman of the Standing Committee on Transport and Roads of the Odesa City Council, said that Mercedes buses, which Odesa received as humanitarian aid from the partner cities of Regensburg and Istanbul and which were waiting on the streets after the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law allowing their use, did not start running. According to him, in order for the buses to be used after the law is passed, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine must approve the procedure for transferring these buses to municipal enterprises. According to the law, the procedure was supposed to take only two months, and five months have passed, but there is still no government decision.

For a long time, 20 modern Mercedes buses have been idle in the fleet of the Odesmiselectrotrans utility company, which Odesa received as humanitarian aid from the partner cities of Regensburg and Istanbul. Due to legal restrictions, these buses could not go on routes. And a similar situation is observed throughout Ukraine - more than 300 such vehicles remain immobile in different cities.

Back in the spring of 2024, the Odesa City Council appealed to the Ministry of Infrastructure to solve the problem. It was supported by the Association of Ukrainian Cities, and Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov raised the issue on behalf of the Association at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President.

Odesa received ten buses from the sister city of Regensburg, followed by ten more modern buses from Istanbul.

Кирило Бойко