Odessa was promised seven buses from Kyiv and Dnipro

Kyiv and Dnipro will transfer seven large passenger buses to Odesa. They will replace the vehicles destroyed by Russian shelling.

This was announced by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

These are the buses that Kyiv transferred to Dnipro for use in October 2022. At that time, 30 vehicles were sent to replace those destroyed by Russian shelling. Since Odesa now needs the buses, seven of them will be transferred there. 

Odesa will receive two types of MAZ low-floor buses, which can accommodate between 100 and 150 passengers. They are equipped with ramps for passengers in wheelchairs and air conditioning in the driver’s cabs. The engines and automatic transmissions on these buses are manufactured by Mercedes-Benz and Voith.

Odessa has an urgent need for public transportation, as much of its fleet was destroyed by the Russians.

Previously, the number of social buses in Odesa was reduced. More trolleybuses and trams have been put into service on routes, duplicating some of the bus routes. Due to this competition, the established revenue target is not being met.

One ofthe deputiespointed out that social buses are inclusive and convenient for passengers, and cutting them back could benefit private carriers.

“People are just starting to get used to normal public transit, and now we’re taking away high-quality, inclusive buses that are truly needed. And people are saying that this is great public transit—we should use it,” they emphasized during the meeting.

A department representative acknowledged that publictransitshould remain on the city’s streets. At the same time, he explained that some routes overlap with those already served by trams and trolleybuses. According to him, this duplication also causes problems with private carriers—they complain about failing to meet revenue targets due to competition with public transit.

Council members questioned the wisdom of this approach and suggested, instead, using public buses to compete with minibuses.

Юлія Калабайда