BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 10
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia's Tbilisi City Hall will soon announce a tender to purchase 300 new mini buses for the capital with the money transferred from the state budget, said Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Trend reports via Georgian media.
Kaladze said that Tbilisi City Hall had plans to fully replace current, outdated fleet of mini buses for a lond time. However, the coronavirus-associated economic crisis sparked made it impossible for some time.
"Due to the pandemic Tbilisi municipality suffered about 150 million lari ($49.1 million) in losses. Soon we will receive funds as a transfer from the central budget and will be able to buy 300 buses as the first stage of the long-term fleet modernization plans,” Kaladze said.
Kaladze stated at the end of 2019 that Tbilisi City Hall would allocate funds for the purchase of new vehicles, as the private company which is operating mini buses, Tbilisi Minibus Company, is struggling financially.
Tbilisi Minibus Company, which has been operating a yellow mini bus fleet in Tbilisi since 2011, requested Tbilisi City Hall earlier in 2019 to allow an increase in current transport tariffs by 20-30 tetris (6-9 cents) for them to replace outdated vehicles and ensure better service.
Current fare for one-way travel is 80 tetris (26 cents) on long routes,and 50 tetris (16 cents) on short routes .
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