Belgrade Looking For (New?) Private Partners for Local and Suburban Public Transport – Surcin to Become Suburban Line Too

The City of Belgrade has published the tender for entrusting the execution of the utility activity of public suburban and local transport of passengers in the territory of the city of Belgrade in a public-private partnership procedure (PPP).

According to the technical specification of the job, the Decision on the City Administration of the City of Belgrade envisages for the Public Transport Secretariat to carry out the jobs pertaining to the organization, manner of execution and use of public line transport of passengers.

– In order to secure a higher quality of passenger transport in the future period, it is necessary to initiate the procedure of the realization of the PPP, that is, the awarding of the public contract. At the moment, in the city of Belgrade, there is no public enterprise whose transportation capacities can meet the needs for the transport of passengers in the city territory. The PUE GSP Beograd has directed all its existing capacities to carrying out the activity of public transport, so it doesn’t have additional capacities in the sense of the necessary number of vehicles with which it could carry out the service of local and suburban transport – the documentation says.

The job is contracted for a period of 10 years, and the subject of the PPP will encompass 293 bus lines. For the purposes of the transport of passengers on these bus lines, the plan is for the private partner to secure 340 vehicles, namely, 225 single buses, 81 articulated buses and 34 mini-buses.

Each vehicle needs to be equipped with a passenger information system and a video surveillance system, a WiFi system and a system for automatic counting of passengers.

It is added that, to the end of consolidating and developing public line transport in Belgrade, and in order to increase the efficiency and reliability, and with that the quality of the provision of this utility service, the City of Belgrade intends to amend the Decision on Public Line Transport of Passengers in the Territory of the City of Belgrade in the coming period so that the organization of transport in the city municipality of Surcin is done in the form of suburban transport.

The tender expires on August 29, and more details (in Serbian) can be found HERE.

As said on the City’s website, suburban and local transport in Belgrade is executed by Lasta Beograd, Lastra Lazarevac, Strela Ub and Strela Obrenovac, on 90 suburban and 222 local lines which act as a connection with the city municipalities of Mladenovac, Sopot, Obrenovac, Grocka and Barajevo.

Let us remind that, last May, the then deputy mayor of Belgrade and the current minister of construction, transport and infrastructure of Serbia, Goran Vesic, warned Lasta about the potential termination of the contract because, as he said, during that month, it didn’t realize a considerable number of departures on suburban and local lines, without providing an explanation.

– That has especially reflected on the quality of transport in Mladenovac, where there were big traffic jams. This kind of conduct exhibited by Lasta is unacceptable. The City of Belgrade regularly pays for every kilometer they ride, so they have to honor their obligations as well. I have not yet heard their apology to the residents of Mladenovac, who were late for work because of them in those days. That’s why they’ve been given the final warning before the termination of the contract. If this kind of behavior continues, the City of Belgrade is sure to terminate the contract with Lasta – Vesic said at the time.

B. P.

Grad Beograd

Sekretarijat za javni prevoz Beograd

JKP GSP Beograd

Lasta a.d. Beograd

Lastra doo Lazarevac

ASP Strela-Ub d.o.o. Ub

ASP Strela doo Obrenovac

City of Belgrade

Public Transport Secretariat of the City of Belgrade

PUE GSP Beograd

Lasta Beograd

Lastra Lazarevac

Strela Ub

Strela Obrenovac

local and suburban public transport

public private partnership

private partner