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In the first month of quarantine, the Kauno autobusai company, which recorded a 70 percent decrease in passengers, now has even more losses. As a result, the income of this subordinate company to the Municipality of Kaunas City has decreased dramatically. The municipal administration has ordered the company to reduce the number of bus and trolleybus trips by one-tenth from May 18.
“There are no passengers, which can be explained further here. And we do not know when they will return to us,” Mindaugas Grigelis, CEO of Kauno autobusų, told the Lithuanian news agency ELTA when asked to comment on such a decision.
He recalled that as early as March, compared to February, passenger traffic on city buses and trolleybuses had decreased by 70-75%. A similar situation persisted in April. Therefore, in early April, of the 1,228 available Kauno autobusai employees, 174 were on leave, 117 had obtained certificates of temporary incapacity to work, and were caring for children who were unable to attend kindergartens or schools due to quarantine. . The company gave some drivers a different job: to disinfect buses.
But the situation did not improve, as ELTA was convinced, and in early May, because the number of passengers on Kaunas public transport, even if equipped with disinfectants, is low. It is expected that they will increase in a week with the resumption of work for kindergartens from May 18.
The educational institutions visited by many Kaunas preschoolers are further from home, so you must also travel by bus or trolleybus. Not all Kaunas families have cars. Also, their parking became more expensive in the city. Furthermore, the city government itself, by expanding the number of paid parking spaces in recent years and making parking more expensive, explains that this encourages people to use public transportation more.
“It is obvious that in a few months Kaunas residents became accustomed to using public transport due to quarantine … It can take a long time, not months, or even years and more. Therefore, some of the plans related to the development of our company and the renewal of the vehicle fleet may be implemented later than expected. (…) As soon as the number of passengers increases, so will the number of trips, “explained M. Grigelis , the long-term boss of the company established by the municipality.
According to him, the situation is now difficult in the entire transport sector, as evidenced by the increase in the supply of drivers looking for work.
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