2013-05-19: events of the week

This week was full of events – but, perhaps, this should be expected, as of July 1st is coming, moreover, approaching the day when there will be the tram line tender procedure started, the municipality is increasingly starting to spread the news about the “necessity” of tram.

Let’s have a brief overview of what happened this week.

2013-05-13, Monday.

Vilnius City Council Petitions Commission meeting took place in Vilnius city municipality. Commission President Birute Galiniene, commission members Sigita Burbiene, Olga Gorskova, Gzegoz Sakson, Ausra Svilpiene. Petition was presented by the representatives of Independent trade union of the public transport workers, Lithuanian Trade Unions’ League, Lithuanian peasants and greens union, movement “for trolleybuses in Vilnius!”. The petition on Vilnius public transport optimization was discussed during the meeting, which collected more than 1,200 signatures:

472 signatures – with the given name, surname, address, personal identification number, signature;

616 signatures – with the given name, surname, address, date of birth, signature;

170 signatures – with the given name, surname, address and signature.

Copies of the petition were presented not only to Vilnius City Council, but also to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Government.

Text of the petition:

Public transport of Vilnius, as well as all other Lithuanian cities, carries a social function. It is mainly used by those residents and guests of Vilnius, who can not afford the higher costs of transport, and therefore public transport to them is vital. It’s not just people who work, but the students, pensioners, etc. … To us who use public transport not only acceptable ticket price and the option to get to the required place quickly and without connections are important, but also the distance of vehicle stops  from home.

We, the residents of Vilnius, feel the importance to preserve the city’s cultural and architectural heritage, which, if Vilnius city municipality plans to install tram lines will be implemented,  can be in extensive damage. We are concerned about the future of the city of Vilnius, therefore it is very important that new debts of Vilnius City Municipality which are necessary for the implementation of their decisions, would not go once again on our shoulders. We believe that the city’s funds are to be allocated in a rational way and to well-being of citizens, and not to a few privileged individuals.

We, private vehicle drivers, are not satisfied that the optimization of public transport proposed by the Vilnius City Municipality and tram lines installation will make the journeys on the capital’s streets more difficult.

Therefore, we categorically disagree with the Vilnius city municipality intentions to optimize the urban public transport – reducing bus and trolley routes and install the tram lines. We believe that these intentions are unfounded, and the studies on which they are guided – biased and superficial.

Vilnius public transport – it is not only the face of the city, but the country’s business card. Therefore, the problems of public transport in the capital should be solved not only the city municipality, but also bythe Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

Therefore, we, the undersigned this text, are asking to accept it as a petition and to take all necessary measures and to adopt and / or amend the relevant laws of the Republic of Lithuania, the municipal law according to our requirements.

Our requirements:

1. Stop all the planned Vilnius public transport reforms.

2. Leave now operating transport system in the capital city and continuously improve renewal of vehicles (buses and trolleybuses).

3. All the reforms related to the public transport system have to be carried out only after taking into consideration the opinion of majority of  the residents of the capital.

During the meeting, members of  the commission were informed on trolleybus advantages when compared with other means of public transport, a summary of the inconvenience for residents and guests during the installation tram lines, of much greater financial burden on the city, if the trolleybus system destruction will start and the tram project will be implemented. Under the request from the members of the commission, a short summary was prepared and sent to the e-mail with specific examples of several interesting trolley vehicle systems operating in the West (from Austria to Canada). That short presentation demonstrates that trolleybus systems are available in the cities which vary a lot in their size, there are a variety of models and manufacturers, there are also examples where the trolley have replaced the tram system or when the trolleys were redesigned from the busses.

Now we have to wait for the decisions of the comission, and then our new actions will follow.

2013-05-14, Tuesday.

Vilnius city municipality, meeting of city services and economic committee, where discussion of so-called scheme of “Integration of carriers to the overall public transport system to carry passengers by bus in local regular routes in Vilnius” (No. A1-1327).

Although, according to the municipal website information this issue had to be discussed at the beginning of the meeting, for unknown reasons, it was started after approximately three hours. For this reason, part of the people who wanted to participate in this meeting, and to share their knowledge and opinion, they simply could not participate because they had to go to work in the second shift. Although the meeting was public, some of the representatives of the municipality didn’t wanted to allow the presence of guests. Considering this question, the most active on the subject who has showed the biggest concern about the issue, was  Committee Member Violeta Podolskaite – other members were not very active. Albeit limited – perhaps due to a delay in the meeting – the guests of this meeting had the opportunity to present their positions. I want to believe that at least some of the members have adopted different information than being imposed “from the top”, as well as tempting to expect that board members will understand the importance of this issue and will convince about this, as well I hope they will try to get the correct information.

2013-05-15, Wednesday. Although only a week has passed since the last meeting on 2013-08-08, Vilnius City Council has held a meeting again (meeting number 39). Before the meeting – which, as we say, becomes a tradition – again, we held a brief picket:

The video of the first part of the meeting, where the question which was imporatant to us was discussed, can be seen in the Vilnius City website.

As we can see, even though it was voted twice, the project was not approved.

I want to remind you that the Board has not discussed on Wednesday the question of “fast” buses or “optimization” after July 1, or the changes of trolleybus quantity in the city. As one of the members said correctly, too bad that quietly without any resistance and discussions “A special plan in Vilnius of deployment of new modes of transportation”

Naujų transporto rūšių diegimo Vilniaus mieste specialusis planas

Projekto „Naujų transporto rūšių diegimo Vilniaus mieste specialiojo plano rengimas” sprendiniai

Dabar pokyčiai yra daromi atsižvelgiant į šitą planą – tad esant galimybėms, reikėtų pirmiausia siekti koreguoti šiuos planus ir sprendinius.

Tad kodėl, jei trečiadienį nebuvo svarstomas „optimizavimo“ projektas, ir buvo teigiama, kad tai yra susiję tik su privačiais vežėjais, mums, siekiantiems išsaugoti Vilniuje troleibusų sistemą, šis klausimas irgi yra svarbus? Tai svarbu ir VVT, nes pagal šį planą, privatiems vežėjams būtų skiriama dalis lėšų už keleivių pervežimą, o VVT kristų į dar didesnę finansinę krizę, plius, palaipsniui tai suteiktų galimybę maršrutus vieną po kito perduoti privatiems vežėjams, motyvuojant tuo, kad jie veža pigiau.

Kas pasiekta, miesto tarybai nepatvirtinus šio „įtraukimo“ sprendimo? Pirma, privatūs vežėjai negalės gauti miesto pinigų, skirtų keleivių pervežimui. Antra, VVT turės aptarnauti visus miesto maršrutus – o tai savaime reiškia didesnį vairuotojų ir transporto priemonių poreikį. Norisi tikėtis, kad tai bent jau pristabdys troleibusų naikinimo planus ir galbūt netgi bus nenaikinami kai kurie maršrutai ar nebus taip drastiškai mažinamas troleibusų priemonių kiekis maršrutuose.

2013-05-17, penktadienis. Vilniuje šiandien ir rytoj (2013-05-18) vyksta renginys „Vilniaus brodas gyvas“. Kelios nuotraukos su vieninteliu mieste likusiu ir tik renginiams nuomojamu Škoda 9Tr, garažinio Nr. 1387 troleibusu (iš renginio pradžios, su hipiais ir “hipiais”) yra 15min.lt galerijoje.

Penktadienio vakare pavyko ten apsilankyti ir padaryti šiek tiek nuotraukų – kelios iš jų, Jūsų dėmesiui, žemiau esančioje fotogalerijoje:

Na ir pabaigai noriu pacituoti Vilniaus mero A.Zuoko žodžius iš šeštadienį, 2013-05-18, portale lrytas.lt pasirodžiusio straipsnio „Vilniaus Volstryte – naujų dangoraižių vizijos“:

 „Dešiniojo Neries kranto plėtra neapsiribos verslo biurų statybomis. Ketinama iš esmės atnaujinti Lvovo ir Krokuvos gatves, Konstitucijos prospekte važinės aplinką tausojantis transportas: nauji belaidžiai troleibusai arba moduliniai autobusai”, – žadėjo A.Zuokas.

Kas dieną po naujieną, vizijose transporto priemonės vis kitokios… kad tik nepritrūktų naujų pavadinimų savo svajonių tramvajui…

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