About the future of public transport

3rd Congress of Organizers and Operators of Public Transport 24 June

ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

As a member of the Chamber of Commerce for Urban Transport (pl. IGKM), we participated in the next Congress on public transport in our country. We would like to point out that it was a long-awaited, first stationary event organized by the Chamber since the lockdown announcement.

The Congress, which took place in Warsaw met with a great response from the members of the Chamber. From obvious reasons, much attention has been paid to the functioning of public transport in times of pandemic and thereby ensuring the safety of passenger transport, as well as the safety of drivers and all public transport employees. A year with coronavirus showed us, that public transport companies have rapidly responded to the epidemic situation. Almost all of them have incorporated safety procedures to protect their employees, drivers and passengers, including new standards for vehicle cleaning and disinfecting, organised buffer zones for drivers and much more. It is safe to say that public transport has done well in times of pandemic, and the new sanitation procedures that have been introduced will possibly stay with us forever, to the benefit of all those, who use this means of transport. Participants have also raised the issues of electromobility, as well as the environmental and operational benefits of electric public transport. The Ministry is expected to release the latest update to the electrification programme for the public transport buses in late July/early August. Also hydrogen buses have not been neglected. Leading Polish manufacturers have presented their new solutions in this field. Participants wondered whether the future of public transport will belong to hydrogen zero-emission buses. Discussions and exchange of views continued after the official end of the Congress. After such a long break caused by pandemic, the participants had a lot to say to each other. A nice touch accompanying the June Congress was a gala dinner to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Chamber (pl. IGKM). We would like to congratulate the Chamber on such a beautiful anniversary and wish further success in activities promoting safety and comfort in public transport.