On October 27, 2023 , on the platform of the Association "Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine", an educational webinar on the topic "Chernigov's experience in reorganizing the passenger transportation system in 2022-2023" was successfully held, which was attended by about 90 representatives from more than 50 cities of Ukraine. The main speaker of the webinar was Oleksandr Ryzhiy, head of the Department of Transport, Transport Infrastructure and Communications of the Chernihiv City Council.

"The renewal of public transport should be a strategic goal for Ukraine, for the post-war recovery and economy of the country, as well as for the return of forced migrants and displaced persons to Ukraine and to those areas affected by the war," said Viktor Zagreba, chairman of the board of the NGO "Vision Zero" ” , who moderated the event. He emphasized that according to the results of the round table, which was held earlier this year, the participants came to the conclusion that current laws, by-laws, state building regulations and standards sometimes do not contribute to the modernization and development of public transport, but inhibit this development. He called on cities and communities to be proactive and create a demand for high-quality public transport and corresponding legislative changes.

The webinar consisted of two parts. The first was dedicated to the presentation and discussion of Chernigov's experience in reorganizing the passenger transportation system. Oleksandr Ryzhiy spoke about the peculiarities of the introduction and functioning of the new model of public transport in Chernihiv after the blockade. "The city went to this model for about three years. We carefully analyzed the legislation, the experience of European cities, and the experience of Ukrainian cities. The transport contracts were to expire in 2022, and we took advantage of this legal opportunity to introduce a completely new route network and a new system of interaction with carriers," noted the head of the Department of Transport, Transport Infrastructure and Communications of the Chernihiv City Council.

During his speech, he also touched on several tangential issues, namely: the functioning of an electronic ticket that works in the city on the basis of a private-public partnership, the provision of reliable and high-quality passenger transportation services, as well as the establishment of a transparent and effective model of interaction with private carriers, which encourages them to invest in rolling stock renewal. "We set bus tariffs based on passenger capacity and year of manufacture. In this way, the city encourages carriers to buy new vehicles. We guarantee that they will have a future tomorrow," Oleksandr Ryzhiy added.

The second part of the event concerned the norms and practices of the organization of urban and suburban transportation in the countries of the European Union. Demyan Danylyuk, an expert on public transport from the NGO "Vision Zero" , using the example of Polish cities, explained that public transport in a neighboring country is not profitable and functions on the basis of EU Regulation No. 1370/2007, which provides for passenger transportation as a Public Service Obligation (PSO). This model involves the ordering of transport services by the state or local authorities, which pay carriers for transport work on public transport routes. "Socially important services should not be profitable, although they can be. Schools, polyclinics, roads do not bring direct profit, but without them, the development of human capital and the quality of life will significantly deteriorate," said Demyan Danyliuk.

Also, in his report, the expert of the NGO "Vision Zero" analyzed the legal norms that Ukraine should adopt in order to harmonize its legislation with European legislation, which is one of the European integration obligations of our state. He noted that Chernihiv is already on the way to implementing the PSO principle and called on other communities that participated in the webinar to adopt the experience of this city and change their approaches to the organization of public transport.

You can read the recording of the webinar at this link: https://bit.ly/3QzE27s