Big changes ahead – here’s what to expect in GSP vehicles and how we’ll pay for transportation

The deadline to apply for the tender is February 25, and it will be carried out in accordance with the public-private partnership model, which was preceded by a study on public transport in the capital, prepared by the Faculty of Transportation of the University of Belgrade.

Within this study, an analysis of the current state of the system was carried out and suggestions were made on how to generate higher income from ticket collection through the new contract, and the system was improved and modernized in accordance with the development of technology.

– Starting tomorrow, Busplus will go down in history. We will look for a partner, protecting the interests of the City – said Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić, adding that the City Council accepted all the suggestions of the Faculty of Transport.

He explained that the new contract, compared to the previous one, contemplates a lower percentage of compensation for a private operator of a maximum of 7.92 percent instead of 8.53 percent.

– If the private operator’s fee had been paid at a lower percentage in the previous contract, the Belgrade City Council would have saved 3,459,119 euros – Vesić said and added that with that money two kindergartens could be built.

He stated that, in addition to a lower commission, there is a cap on a private partner’s earnings, adding that if ticket sales income exceeds 900 million dinars per month, the private partner will not be able to receive more than three percent of the Commission. As said, the new partner is also expected to have a greater scope of service: a greater number of vehicles (2,151 compared to 1853), a greater number of drivers (300 drivers compared to 200), a greater number of points of ticket restocking (minimum 1,500 compared to 800), as well as longer work hours of the place for the issuance of personalized cards.

In addition, it is expected to improve the functionality of the system and the equipment, the ability to pay by mobile phone through the application that will be able to inform passengers in real time about delays, changes, schedule changes, as well as send notifications related to the expiration, replacement or validation of the personal or personal card. .

The new contract also stipulates that in case of need for a greater number of controllers, the City Council can hire them independently, which, as mentioned, achieves much greater flexibility and optimization of the entire system.

In addition, it is expected that the private partner will participate in additional costs in the case of hiring additional drivers in the same percentage as the percentage of compensation for ticket sales, unlike before when there was no possibility of hiring additional drivers. The city suffered great losses.

Vesić said that in the future, instead of the Busplus card, the Belgrade card will be used, which citizens will use not only for public transport, but also to pay for parking, enter museums …

One of the novelties also refers to the availability of equipment. That is, in the previous contract, the equipment became the property of the City only after the contract expired, and it is now envisaged that the equipment will be owned by the City from the beginning of the contract, which, as stated, has a full right of disposition and you are in a much better position. The city’s Public Transport Secretary Jovica Vasiljevic says the new partner is expected to modernize the system in line with technology development.

– After the expiration of the contract, the equipment that was initially implemented 10 years ago was delivered to the city. The new contract defines a validity period of 13 years and introduces the obligation to replace equipment that does not work for any reason: failure, damage or similar. – said Vasiljevic.

Thus, he added, it is expected that for the duration of the contract, all the equipment will be completely replaced and that at the time of completion of the contract, the City Council will have a technologically functional system with modern equipment at its disposal.

The study on public transport in the Serbian capital was carried out by the Faculty of Transport of the University of Belgrade, and that faculty professor Slaven Tica says that the work lasted more than 120 days and was done efficiently.

He pointed out that the objective was an in-depth technical-technological analysis of the ticket collection and vehicle management system in Belgrade with all the necessary elements for its improvement and development, all in order to create the conditions for the system to translate into a more efficient state without unforeseen events. .

– Furthermore, our goal was to redesign some of the key activities within the system, the implementation of which would bring the system to a state of complete order and stability, mainly acceptable to the city of Belgrade, but also to a potential future operator. – Tica said.

In September of this year, the ten-year contract that the Belgrade City Council had with the company “Apex Solution” expired, which created the Busplus system for collecting tickets and driving vehicles on public transport in the capital, but due to Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the contract was extended until the new partner is selected. according to the law.