PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE: NEW APROACH FOR BETTER QUALITY OF SERVICE City of Skopje Workshop 03. - 05. June 2008 – Skopje TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE: NEW APROACH FOR BETTER QUALITY OF SERVICE Prof. Dr. NIKOLA KRSTANOSKI University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, BITOLA Faculty for Technical Sciences Department for Transport and Traffic Engineering

Quick facts – Skopje the macedonian capital City of Skopje Quick facts – Skopje the macedonian capital 7088 ha Rapid development after the earthquake in 1963 506 926 inhabitants in 2005 (25% of the total population) 202 Passenger cars/1000 inhabitants

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY Public PT operator – JSP Skopje established in 1948 Until 1990, the only operator in Skopje In 1989 amendments to the Law for road transport – deregulation of the PT Since 1990 public transport company + private operators

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY Three PT operators: JSP Skopje – public –the biggest operator “Sloboda prevoz” – private “Mak Ekspres” – private 83,75% of the lines (67) operated by JSP Skopje 16,25% of the lines (13) operated by the private operators

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY JSP Skopje: 1290 employees 380 vehicles 250 vehicles operating daily Average fleet age 17,4 years 45 000 000 passengers per year (compared to 150 000 000 passengers per year in 1989) 15 000 000 km per year Commercial speed 18,5 km/h

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN SKOPJE TODAY Private operators 250 individual transporters organized in two private association 250 vehicles 27,27 years average bus age 13 lines (7 urban + 6 suburban and rural) Rented maintenance facilities

City of Skopje

Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje City of Skopje Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje

PUBLIC TRANSPORT – THE PROBLEMS City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT – THE PROBLEMS The deregulation of PT – a step back: No established policy, no objectives to be achieved, no vision for future development of PT in Skopje very poorly planned and put into practice (no well-thought standards and criteria for providing of PT service) The result: chaos and continuous deterioration of public transport services over the next 18 years

PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY THE PROBLEMS Lack of policy for future sustainable development of the urban transport system in Skopje as a whole and PT system specifically Currently: the main planning of the transport system is within the general urban plan this process must be improved and existing deficiencies to be overcome

PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY THE PROBLEMS Business environment within the PT market Currently: - deregulated market with examples where direct competition between different service providers exists – (fight for passengers, no integrated services, no integrated ticketing) - well-defined standards and criteria for doing a business in the PT are needed and their strict application is a must

PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY THE PROBLEMS Problem of financing - bad business environment - deterioration of services -continuous loss of passengers – financial exhaustion of public PT company - no subsidies of any kind for PT providers – a rare case in Europe - recent huge increase of fuel prices as well as the other operational costs – additional financial burden

Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje City of Skopje Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje

City of Skopje

PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY City of Skopje PUBLIC TRANSPORT TODAY THE PROBLEMS Deterioration of the quality of service – loss of passengers - very old vehicle fleet problems with the service reliability (breakdowns, traffic congestion) poor passenger information low commercial speed – long travel times un-convenient ticketing and fare system pollution from PT vehicles

Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje City of Skopje Suburban and rural lines operated by JSP Skopje

Mobility and modal share – total and by PT City of Skopje Mobility and modal share – total and by PT 1965 1977 1998 2018 Inhabitants 220 000 385 000 545 000 615 000? % of trips by PT 68 45 34? 45? PT mobility per capita (trips per year) 201 290 193? 340? Total mobility per capita (trips per year) 295 644 567? 756? Total mobility (trips per year) 64 970 000 248 111 111 308 823 529? 464 666 667? Total number of trips by PT per year 44 311 000 111 650 000 105 000 000? 209 100 000?

the existing and the potential PT users City of Skopje OBJECTIVES to increase the modal share of PT – to increase the attractiveness of PT – to improve the PT service quality TARGET GROUP the existing and the potential PT users

City of Skopje PLANNED MEASURES To develop a strategy for development of sustainable urban transport system in Skopje (to be developed soon as a specific activity within FP7 project RENESSAINCE) To develop a strategy for development of PT system in Skopje - The strategy includes solutions to the problems of PT organization – market definition, financing, quality of service, etc.) (strategy has been already done – its enforcing is to start soon)

To improve the quality of service City of Skopje PLANNED MEASURES To improve the quality of service - renewal of the vehicle fleet (the government has already approved purchase of 50 new buses – financing from the state budget) - introduction of AVL system (Automated Vehicle Location) in other to improve service reliability and service quality (in the process is the approval - demonstration project is planned with in the FP7 project RENESSAINCE)

To improve the quality of service City of Skopje PLANNED MEASURES To improve the quality of service - introduction of real-time passenger information (demonstration project is planned with in the FP7 project RENESSAINCE) - introduction of smart ticketing based on integrated fare system for all PT service providers - introduction of Light Rail Transit for better service – faster, greater capacity, more environmentally friendly, greater comfort (the project activities in progress - 3 + 1 lines planned)

To reduce the pollution from PT vehicles City of Skopje PLANNED MEASURES To reduce the pollution from PT vehicles - conversion of transit diesel vehicles to CNG (The public PT company JSP SKOPJE has already converted 30 vehicles to CNG – more conversions will be done with in the FP7 project RENESSAINCE) - introduction of electric powered LRT vehicles – the project activities in progress

IMPLEMENATION PROBLEMS City of Skopje IMPLEMENATION PROBLEMS lack of sufficient financing sources political environment in the country and in the region lack of capacities (institutional and human) public awareness

City of Skopje COOPERATION Department for Traffic and Transport Engineering, University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bitola Within the FP7 project RENESSAINCE cooperation with 27 partners from Italy, Great Britain, Netherlands, Poland and Bulgaria

EXPECTED RESULTS to improve of the overall transport system in Skopje City of Skopje EXPECTED RESULTS to improve of the overall transport system in Skopje (less traffic congestion, less pollution, less time loss, better environment) to increase the attractiveness and the quality of service of the PT in Skopje (better modal share, increased number of public transport passengers, lessen pressure of private automobile, better environment) to meet the future demand for urban travel by planning PT modes with higher performance and capacity features

NEXT STEPS to implement the strategy for PT development in Skopje City of Skopje NEXT STEPS to implement the strategy for PT development in Skopje to develop the plan for sustainable urban transport system to introduce the AVL system to introduce the real-time passenger information system to introduce integrated fare system and smart ticketing to convert more PT buses to CNG to introduce the LRT in Skopje