The handover of the final two of the total eleven new low-floor buses for use in public transport in Šibenik took place on April 29. The City of Šibenik concluded the contract on the purchase, along with a five-year maintenance obligation and a long-term warranty, worth €3.5 million, on 31 August 2021 with Auto Hrvatska Sales and Service Centres.
The buses were manufactured in Poland, at the MAN plant in Starachowice. They are 12 meters long and are powered by a EURO 6 diesel engine. As they are low-floor vehicles, they provide easier access for persons with limited mobility.
The procurement of a fleet of new orange and black buses is part of the project “Integrated mobility in the city of Šibenik – increasing the number of passengers in public transport”, managed by the municipal company City parking in partnership with the City of Šibenik. The biggest project activity was the construction and outfitting of an underground garage and logistics center located below the central town square Poljana, which was remodeled as part of the works.
Like the construction of the logistics center, the purchase of buses is not in itself a solution to traffic problems in Šibenik. Therefore, the project also includes equipping the 17 busiest bus stops with information displays, as well as development of a mobile and computer application that lets users purchase tickets, pay for parking and access traffic information.
The multipronged integrated mobility project worth €13.2 million is supported by the European Union Cohesion Fund, via the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020. The value of the grant is €9.8 million.
City of Šibenik officials expect that by September, the buses will take over the service on seven city lines from older vehicles that are currently in operation. The precise setup of the new lines will be determined pending the results of a traffic study, which is being prepared by company Ernst & Young as part of the project. The standard for the operating frequency of these 11 buses is departures every 20 minutes.
The desired outcome of the efforts on the integrated mobility project is public transport that citizens can depend on.