Category : News

Lviv, Ukraine, 20 June 2024 — Eighty communities across 23 oblasts of Ukraine are appealing to European municipalities, transport companies and non-governmental organizations for assistance in acquiring used buses. These buses will help provide mobility to millions of Ukrainians as a necessary replacement for electric trams and trolleybuses during the periods of energy shortages, especially in winter. This request comes in response to frequent electricity cuts resulting from relentless Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine.

The communities urgently need at least 744 buses to help alleviate transportation challenges, according to the results of a needs assessment survey. To facilitate the search for suitable vehicles and deliver them where they will work well, two Ukrainian organizations, NGO "Vision Zero" and the Association "Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine" (EECU), have founded the Initiative "Buses for Ukraine." They are calling on European organizations to support and participate in this effort.

Additional requests for used buses have been received from small and medium-sized communities. Some of these communities, such as Konotop, Trostianets, Chortkiv, Boyarka, Bucha, Kostopil, Haivoron, Horodok, Vyzhnytsia, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, already have operating transport companies and require the buses to enhance their services. Furthermore, half of the requests (41) have come from smaller, predominantly rural communities with populations ranging from one thousand to 25 thousand.

“Given the current situation in Ukraine, used buses—even those running on diesel fuel—are essential. Due to the aggression against our energy system, which has led to severe shortages, cities increasingly need buses to replace electric transport. Additionally, some cities must replace buses destroyed by missile strikes. We are striving to secure as many buses as possible for Ukrainian cities before winter arrives. We anticipate prolonged energy outages in winter, which could paralyze electric public transport," said Svyatoslav Pavliuk, Executive Director of the Association of Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine. 

The NGOs behind the initiative emphasize the importance of cities receiving buses they can maintain effectively. "Many cities have already received used buses from European partners, and we have learned valuable lessons. It is not ideal when buses come from different manufacturers and vary in size and condition. It is crucial to match the proposals with the needs of the cities, ensuring they receive buses that are compatible with their existing fleet and manageable in terms of spare parts and repair capabilities," commented Viktor Zagreba, chairman of NGO “Vision Zero”.

The Initiative “Buses for Ukraine” calls for municipalities, local governments, public transport companies, associations, foundations and NGOs to help Ukraine by helping us identify:

1. Possibilities to acquire used buses from 8 to 18 meters long, in EU/EEC county, free of charge or for a symbolic price;
2. Support in sharing this information with potential providers of the buses, relevant associations and municipalities;
3. Local and national NGOs in EU/EEC countries willing to become local contact points or representatives and look for used buses from local entities in the local language;
4. Foundations and philanthropists interested in covering the expected transportation costs to bring the public transport rolling stock to Ukraine.

If you can help with one of the requests, please contact the coordinators: 

NGO Vision Zero, https://visionzero.org.ua/, office email: vision.zero.ngo@gmail.com

Contact person: Viktor Zagreba, Chairman of NGO Vision Zero, viktor@zagreba.com

Phone number in Ukraine +38 098 907 7365, Phone number in Germany +49 15 111 09 41 90.

Context

As of January 2022, Ukraine had 18 tram systems with 2249 tram cars and 41 trolleybus systems with 3743 trolleybuses. Some systems were damaged due to war aggression against Ukraine, but most of them continued operations and are even expanding. Cities of Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava and Zhytomyr have opened or are about to open new catenary lines, and cities such as Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia and Chenivtsi have procured new electric rolling stock with small size on-board battery that allows them to run off-grid for 15-25 km. In total, in 2023 Ukrainian cities acquired 52 trolleybuses.

Civil society organisations are working with the national policymakers to change the legislation of Ukraine to remove the current formal restrictions on the use of buses received as humanitarian aid on regular routes. This problem was in the list of 10 urgent recommendations submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, and the relevant draft law has already been registered by Ukrainian MPs. The initiators are also aware that humanitarian buses for cities are a temporary solution that does not eliminate the need for systemic reforms in the transport sector, in particular, the fulfilment of Ukraine's overdue obligation to implement Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road into Ukrainian legislation.

Public transport is important in Ukraine because a vast majority of people rely on it for their daily needs. According to a recent sociological survey, almost 51% of households in Ukraine do not own a car. In Eastern regions, 57.2% of households do not have an automobile, in the Southern oblasts 56,2%, in North 55,1% and in central regions 54%. In contrast, in the Western regions, to where many families relocated from war-affected cities and towns, the car ownership rate stands at about 60%. The survey was conducted by the research agency “Info Sapiens” in January 2024 at the request of the NGO “Vision Zero”.

It was organized by the National Institute of Infrastructure Development as part of the Road Safety Week . More than 150 participants representing state bodies and institutions, local self-government bodies, as well as public and engineering organizations took part in the online event.

Viktor made a presentation on the topic "Roads with three lanes of traffic as part of the Vision Zero approach. Theory and practice of application" , based on the experience and standards of Sweden and examples of sections of roads in Ukraine that can be "turned into Sweden" with fairly small efforts and financial costs, and achieve zero mortality on them.

"The peculiarity of roads with a 2+1 scheme is that they allow you to radically increase traffic safety and at the same time increase the average speed of traffic. It is also a surprisingly balanced solution that not only takes away something, but also gives: it physically makes overtaking and left turns in prohibited places, and at the same time provides many opportunities for safe overtaking and protected left turns," Viktor Zagreba noted. In his opinion, all sections of category II roads in Ukraine can and should be converted to the "Scandinavian manner", to the traffic scheme (2+1), because the width of the pavement is just enough for this.

Viktor noted that Ukraine has an effective DSTU from 2015 on three-lane roads, and such sections are implemented in practice in many regions, especially on uphills. However, this embodiment has significant problems and shortcomings, and often these places are "black spot" places. The main drawback of such areas in Ukraine is the lack of fencing between the directions of traffic, which leads to catastrophic road accidents with fatalities. Other shortcomings relate to the method of completion of the additional lane, the length of the transition zone and the distance of installation of warning road signs before the end of the lane.

Safe road infrastructure is one of the demands of the "Manifesto for Safe Roads" , developed as part of the "For Safe Roads" Campaign, which was signed by 40 public organizations. The NGO "Vision Zero" is also a co-developer and signatory of the manifesto.

In the spring of 2024, Ukrainian cities again faced planned and emergency power outages caused by enemy shelling of energy infrastructure. As in the winter of 2022-2023, public transport suffers greatly from this.

The electric transport system of the city of Dnipro. Source: NGO "Vision Zero"

During the event, Ihor Makovtsev, deputy mayor, director of the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure of the Dnipro City Council , gave a speech on "Adaptation of the transport system to energy crises and cooperation with energy companies". He introduced the webinar listeners to five steps that city authorities take to minimize the consequences of energy crises, most of which are implemented in close cooperation with energy supply companies:

• development of schedules of hourly outages;
• development of options for the operation of electric transport during the introduction of hourly restrictions on electricity;
• monitoring of electricity consumption to adjust the load in conditions of electricity shortage;
• organization of uninterrupted power supply of traffic light objects;
• operational evacuation of rolling stock.

The second report at the webinar was devoted to the energy sustainability of the city's trolleybus network. First of all, we are talking about such steps as autonomous power supply at traction substations and the use of battery trolleybuses. This was told by Volodymyr Kobets, director of Dniprovskyi Elektrotransport KP . "During the first blackouts, we had a problem - prompt switching on of traction substations. We developed a cabinet for our own needs, where we placed batteries for backup power," said Volodymyr Kobets. One of the main characteristics of this cabinet is 6 hours of autonomous operation when switching and 10 hours in standby mode. Currently, six such facilities have been installed in the city. "This year, it is planned to increase the number of cabinets to 11," the official clarified.

Technical characteristics of AKSM-32100D battery trolleybuses. Source: NGO "Vision Zero".

The next step is the use of battery trolleybuses. According to Volodymyr Kobts, the Dnipro trolleybus park now has 185 vehicles, of which only 47 cars (49 in the presentation) are equipped with batteries for driving without a contact network. Most of the battery-powered trolleybuses (35 units) have autonomous travel up to 1 km. This is quite small, so the city is modernizing them by replacing alkaline-acid batteries with modern lithium-ion batteries. This allows you to increase the autonomous range to 4 km without passengers and up to 2.5 km with passengers. "We have already made 12 such units, we will continue," said the director of KP "Dniprovskyi Elektrotransport".

After the reports, the speakers answered the questions of the listeners. One of the issues concerned the installation of renewable sources at traffic lights. "A powerful traffic light object needs somewhere between 4 and 4.5 kW. And these objects are under construction, that is, there is not enough sunlight. Therefore, it is very difficult to understand the efficiency of this system. We have similar [generation] systems, most of all they are used on access roads to the city," answered Ihor Makovtsev, director of the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure of the Dnipro City Council.

You can view the speeches of speakers at the webinar and answers to questions at the link: https://bit.ly/3V7sMBO

More information about the steps taken by the city government of Dnipro towards the energy sustainability of public transport is available in the presentation at the link: https://bit.ly/3V3qLWV

In Ukraine, a survey of territorial communities about the need for humanitarian buses is starting. This initiative was launched by the non-governmental organization "Vision Zero" and the Association "Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine" (AEMU) in order to assess the demand for used (humanitarian) buses for the communities of Ukraine and establish communication with potential providers of vehicles in European countries.

Used buses from German cities now connect the settlements of the Buchansk community. Photo: "Buchanski Novyny" newspaper , (printed organ of Buchanska city territorial community)

"In the conditions of martial law, many cities of Ukraine are limited in investments in the development of public transport. The way out of this situation, albeit temporary, is humanitarian aid from European municipalities. Some communities, in particular large cities or those cities that suffered from the occupation, have already received and continue to receive used buses from Europe, which are quite suitable for use on city and suburban routes. Our initiative is designed to encourage the leaders of territorial communities to more actively involve humanitarian buses from Europe and improve urban transportation with their help," said Sviatoslav Pavlyuk , executive director of AEMU .

In order to submit an application for receiving used (humanitarian) buses from European countries, heads of territorial communities need to fill out a special electronic form. "Filling out the questionnaire is a voluntary notification of potential interest and does not oblige you to receive it in the future," says the preamble to the online form. The questionnaire provides for the collection of information about the population in the community, the availability of a utility carrier, the required number of buses and their type (small, medium, standard or increased capacity).

The electronic form for applying for used buses for utility companies of Ukraine is available at the link.

"The destruction of power generation facilities by the aggressor state has increased the problems in the field of transport as well, and buses are now also needed as replacement transport on trolleybus and tram routes. As a public organization, we would like to understand approximately how much the need for buses still exists and prove this information to the transport associations in the EU. We do not know how many buses in decent condition are available in the EU. But those who do not ask, do not receive. Our goal is to find out about it, and in the case of positive answers, as well as in the case that the proposed buses still have a working resource, then help the communities to get the vehicles they need," said Viktor Zagreba , chairman of the board of the "Vision Zero" NGO.

Humanitarian buses on city routes

After the de-occupation of Kyiv Region, Chernihiv Region, and Sumy Region in the spring of 2022, some cities in these regions began to receive used buses from friendly European countries as humanitarian aid. This allowed them to improve the level of public transport and create an alternative to public electric transport during power outages in late 2022 - early 2023. For example, Kyiv received more than 100 used buses from European cities, Chernihiv received more than 10 units, etc.

Some cities, with the help of used European buses, managed to organize passenger transportation, which before the full-scale invasion was either absent or carried out by small-capacity vehicles of private carriers. In particular, in the summer of 2022, Bucha received the first buses from the German cities of Dresden and Bergisch-Gladbach. For their operation, in November of the same year, a communal carrier - "Buchatransservice" - was created in the Buchansk territorial community. The new enterprise started its activities in May 2023 on four routes connecting Bucha with other settlements of the community.

At the same time, as noted by the NGO "Vision Zero", the use of used buses from European cities, received as humanitarian aid, is not regulated in Ukrainian legislation, which creates legal obstacles for the operation of the received vehicles on the routes. In order to resolve this issue, in April of this year , draft law No. 11165 was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Public organizations and communities are waiting for the adoption of this or a similar law that will allow the use of buses on routes with the collection of fares.

On April 12, 2024, the non-governmental organization "Vision Zero" organized a round table on the topic "Save public transport: 10 actions at the state level", which was held in Lviv. Its purpose was to draw attention to the necessary steps in state policy that will allow cities to ensure the functioning of public transport in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine.

"Public transport has been declining for the last 10 years " is a very radical phrase, it is not always so. A different situation is observed in Ukraine. New trams and trolleybuses periodically appear in cities, and people like it. The infrastructure is really falling apart. According to our research, the problems of public transport are not yet visible to the general public, but the deputies do not see the lack of drivers and the tired infrastructure" , - said during the round table, the chairman of the board of the NGO "Vision Zero" Viktor Zagreba.

As early as 2023, experts from the non-governmental organization "Vision Zero" began working with the newly created public transport team of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine. At the beginning of January 2024, there was a joint meeting with representatives of cities and communal enterprises. In total, more than 50 participants took part in the meeting. The issues were different: from the lack of drivers, the increase in the duration of work, to the financing of capital expenditures on infrastructure, in particular, in Kherson, where everything is very, very difficult.

According to the analyst, researcher of urban mobility and public transport (Lviv), GO "Vision Zero" Demyan Danylyuk, the organization's experts organized all proposals and complaints of cities. The result was 25 pages of text containing 76 proposals from 16 interested parties.

After analyzing all the proposals in February, recommendations were issued to improve the operation of public transport in the cities of Ukraine in various aspects:

Personnel problem:

• training and work of trolleybus and bus drivers from the age of 18;
• to make changes to the regulatory framework for a simplified procedure for involving trolleybus drivers in driving buses and vice versa;
• extended working hours of drivers until the end of martial law;
• provide a mechanism for booking drivers from mobilization in an acceptable time frame.

Electric energy:

• regarding the proposal "On a permanent basis to apply for KP electricity tariffs set for the population", it is recommended not to implement this proposal;
• development and adoption of a resolution of the CMU regarding the definition of a specific document regarding price fluctuations;
• to create legal opportunities and incentives for KPs to generate and sell electricity.

Use on routes of transport received as humanitarian aid:

• to make changes to the normative legal acts that will allow the use of rolling stock received as humanitarian aid on routes with revenue generation (tolls).

Public transport policy reform:

• implement European Commission Regulation 1370/2007 as soon as possible;
• turn to Germany and Switzerland for technical assistance in developing a comprehensive vision of state policy regarding legislative and technical regulation of public transport.

We invite you to view the full version of the round table: https://www.youtube.com/live/Y8rldhGvYE0?si=h7tr9alfKlNab5eZ

On April 4, 2024, the NGO "Vision Zero" together with the Association "Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine" held a webinar on the topic "Lviv Electric Mobility Plan and Integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES)" .

This webinar was held with the participation of more than 40 participants from 35 settlements of Ukraine. The industry speakers were: the head of the Transport Department of the Lviv City Council, Orest Oleskiv , and Demyan Danylyuk , an expert of the NGO "Vision Zero" on public transport.

Among all, it was about the " Plan for the development of electromobility of the city of Lviv until 2035" and what it foresees, as well as about possible scenarios for the use of RES for the development of electromobility in Lviv.

In the final part, the participants asked questions to the speakers. More details about the webinar, reports-presentations-questions in the publication at the link: https://bit.ly/3VXVeGY And the recording of the broadcast is available for viewing here: https://youtu.be/0AXjJMrRUp4?si=--kfZQZRbG_JS1Jw

Since June 2023 , the NGO "Vision Zero" and the Association "Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine" have started cooperation within the framework of a new one-year project, the main goal of which is to promote the modernization and development of electric public transport in the cities of Ukraine by including it in state policy documents, in particular in modernization plans and recovery.

One of the areas of work is the preparation and distribution of materials on the topic of sustainable mobility and public electric transport.

Currently, a library is available on the Association's website, consisting of a series of educational and practical publications, which include the experience of various countries in the field of public electric transport development, translations of articles on the topic of sustainable urban mobility and industry documents of the European Union, as well as research and analytical documents. All these materials were prepared and issued by the NGO "Vision Zero".

As of today, this section contains 24 materials, many of which are published in Ukrainian for the first time. The most recent materials are translations of the articles " 10 statistical facts about women in transport, which show why public transport is important " and "Results of a sociological study on the presence of cars in Ukrainian households as of January 2024 " , which show how important the development of public transport is transport After all, the majority of Ukrainians do not have a car and depend on other means of mobility, including public transport.

In the context of urban planning and urban development, in the library you will find a bulletinabout the successful experience of the city of Lund (Sweden) regarding the construction of a new tram line and how it affected the development of the surrounding areas according to the principle of Transit oriented development . The library continues to be filled, we are preparing new materials and translations!

You will find more materials at the link: https://enefcities.org.ua/biblioteka/publikatsi/?tab=15

In 2023, Ukraine came only 2% closer to fulfilling its European integration obligations in the field of transport , increasing the share of implementation of European directives from 53% to 55% . We obtained such indicators after analyzing information from the government website "Puls Ugoda" based on the results of 2023 and 2022.

According to the website, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine added two percentage points to its "portfolio", increasing the implementation rate from 56% to 58% . The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) on transport and infrastructure did not make any progress during the year, remaining at 19% . The Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine and other central executive bodies in the field of transport achieved the greatest progress, their joint indicator of implementation of the Association Agreement increased from 33% to 42% .

As of January 10, 2023, the share of overdue obligations, according to the government website, is:

• Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: 42% non-compliance;
• Other central bodies of executive power: 68% non-compliance;
• VRU Committee on Transport and Infrastructure: 81% non-implementation.

The implementation of Regulation 1370/2007/EC is among the European integration draft laws that were not considered by the VRU transport committee last year. A package of five draft laws (5149 as the main and supplementary 5150, 5151, 5152 and 5185) was registered three years ago, long before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This package of legislative changes is needed both for Ukraine to become a member of the EU and to create an opportunity for local transport organizers to switch to modern principles of ordering and financing public transport services.

Various cities have repeatedly appealed to legislators to adopt this package of laws. Also, about 100 representatives of local self-government bodies, who participated in the All-Ukrainian Urban Mobility Forum, which took place in Lviv on April 26-28, 2023, addressed a joint appeal to the parliament with a request to speed up consideration of this issue.

According to the non-governmental organization "Vision Zero", such slow progress in the implementation of the Agreement delays the European integration of Ukraine and complicates the life of cities and citizens already now.

"Private and communal transport companies are barely surviving in the constant crisis conditions, which began back in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic and only worsened in 2022-2023. As a result, the quality and reliability of public transport services is constantly and rapidly decreasing. Small ones suffer the most communities, especially in rural areas, where bus transportation is completely unprofitable and the lack of legal financing. These problems, which are experienced by the majority of the population of Ukraine, are probably unknown to the members of the VRU transport committee, who move around the cities and the country only by car are trying to change something, but due to outdated and imperfect legislation, they are limited in their ability to implement transport changes at the local level," Viktor Zagreba , chairman of the board of the non-governmental organization "Vision Zero", commented on the situation.

The public organization reminds that Ukraine ratified the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on September 16, 2014, that is, this year will be the 10th anniversary of this event. Ukraine's acquisition of the status of a candidate for EU accession does not cancel the need to fulfill the obligations specified in the Association Agreement. On the contrary, in addition to these obligations, the VRU and the government will have to develop and approve a large number of additional documents on state policy, in particular in the field of transport. Therefore, the implementation of the articles of the Association Agreement in the field of transport remains extremely necessary and mandatory on the part of the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers and other central state authorities.

Representatives of the NGO "Vision Zero" took part in the meeting "on certain urgent issues of the functioning of automobile passenger transport", which was held online on December 28, 2023. The meeting was convened and conducted by Oleksandr Dyachenko - acting head of the internal road transport department and Svyatoslav Tovstyga - head of the urban transport department of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine. The heads of transport departments and communal enterprises of local governments of Lviv, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and other cities took part in the discussion.

The chairman of the board of the NGO "Vision Zero" Viktor Zagreba made a presentation on the topic "The need for reforming the system of organizing public transport services in accordance with the Association Agreement." He spoke about the problems voiced by the participants at the "All-Ukrainian Urban Mobility Forum" in April 2023, which was co-organized by the "Vision Zero" NGO. In particular, it was about the resolution of the Forum, Ukraine's obligations to implement Regulation 1370/2007/EC in accordance with the Association Agreement with the EU (regarding the organization of public transport).

NGO "Vision Zero" consistently advocates for the improvement of the state policy of Ukraine with the aim of modernization and development of electric public transport, which meets the climate obligations of Ukraine, the goals and principles of the European Green Course and the European Strategy for Smart and Sustainable Mobility.

On November 15, 2023, a panel discussion "How green is this recovery? The view of civil society" was held in Warsaw . The event was initiated by the NGO "Vision Zero " and jointly organized with the organizing committee " Rebuild Ukraine " - by "Premier Expo" company. The forum included a business exhibition with the participation of 304 exhibiting companies, as well as a two-day conference held simultaneously in three conference halls.

photo source : https://bit.ly/40RzHAi 

The purpose of the discussion was to disseminate assessments, views and strategic positions of civil society organizations regarding the recovery of Ukraine, which is already underway, and future steps (outlined in the "Ukraine Plan") from the point of view of the Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the European Green Deal .

The audience of the discussion were representatives of donor organizations, international aid projects of Ukraine, international financial organizations, companies and business associations from EU member states. Therefore, English was chosen as the language of discussion.

Speakers at the panel discussion were:

Viktor Zagreba, chairman of the board of the NGO "Vision Zero";

Yuliana Onishchuk, founder and CEO of the "Energy act for Ukraine" Foundation;

Maryna Ratushna, head of programs of the NGO "Eco-diya";

Nataliya Kholodova, project manager of the Ecoclub NGO;

Oleksandra Naryzhina, head of the NGO "Urban reforms";

Maria Lukyanova, national coordinator in Ukraine of the bankwatch network sector;

Olena Koltyk, head of the "UST" organization.

The event was moderated by Anastasia Vereshchynska, the partnership manager of the "Energy act for Ukraine Foundation".

During the discussion, the participants discussed the process and quality of mechanisms and plans prepared by Ukraine for post-war recovery, work directly with cities, towns and rural communities on projects of autonomous energy production, the scale, trends and threats to the field of electric public transport, sources and mechanisms of financing recovery and modernization projects . Also, the topic of discussion was proposals and wishes of civil society organizations to the government and international partners of Ukraine.

This is the third representative event organized and held by the NGO "Vision Zero" in 2023. The first was a round table for representatives of local self-government bodies and specialized utility companies on the topic "Development of electric public transport and post-war recovery of Ukraine" on April 27, 2023 in Lviv. Its results, among other things, were reflected in the "Resolution of the All-Ukrainian Forum of Urban Mobility". The second event was a round table on the topic of post-war reconstruction of public transport, key tasks and challenges. It was held in Kyiv together with the Center for Transport Strategies.