The government of Sevastopol has dealt a blow to another business sector

The Sevastopol government is waging a war against private business on all fronts. Having dealt a crushing blow to trade , officials have now turned their attention to the private transportation market. This is called "transport system reform." The first results are already evident: buses have become significantly less frequent.

In early October, the city government forcibly concluded agreements with all private carriers. They were required to install navigation systems, validators for reading transport cards and switch to a single tariff - 18 rubles.

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Theoretically, the same ticket price for any type of transport should have redirected passenger traffic from trolleybuses to faster and more comfortable minibuses. But it was not there.

At the same time, the government obliged private owners to transport beneficiaries, including pensioners. And there are almost 200 thousand of them living in Sevastopol. Theoretically, carriers should not be at a loss, because the contracts stipulate compensation from the budget, but in practice, in order not to overpay, the government has almost halved the number of cars on the routes.

As a result, people on the outskirts wait for buses for an hour, and then fight their way inside.

“This is a consequence of transport reform. Routes have been reorganized and the number of cars has been reduced in some cases by almost half, so there may not be enough transport. But this does not depend on the carriers,” said Mikhail Komyagin, director of Sevtranstrust LLC, in an interview with ForPost.

Director of the Department of Transport Igor Titov denies all accusations. He argues that the number of buses has declined because carriers simply do not own enough vehicles equipped to meet all city government requirements.

And here, very opportunely, the traffic police started checking on the roads.

“We have as a result the non-arrival of a number of vehicles for the reason that they are simply not designed for passenger transportation,” Titov said.

So, now in Sevastopol the number of buses has decreased, but the number of people wishing to ride them has increased - due to 27 categories of beneficiaries. Drivers complain that the latter are often quicker than those who are willing to pay. Benefit recipients thrust their documents into the crowd, the authenticity of which the driver is unable to assess. As a result, carriers' revenues are falling, and nervousness on routes is increasing.

It was assumed that the government would issue personalized single cards for beneficiaries, but this did not happen. That is, by demanding navigators and validators from private owners, officials generously forgive themselves for non-compliance with the terms of contracts.

And, most importantly, none of the carriers has yet received compensation for transporting beneficiaries. The government is considering how to formalize it.

Expect the confusion to increase early next year. After all, the agreements were concluded before the 2018 messenger. Their re-contract can be an exciting adventure for carriers, just like running any business today in Sevastopol.