Local services
At the announcement, Mayor of Debrecen László Papp said that solar parks will be built to make public transport in Debrecen even more sustainable.
DKV’s fleet will be further expanded, details of which were announced at a briefing in Debrecen on Friday morning. At the event, László Papp said that it is always a pleasure to report that public transport in Debrecen is becoming more comfortable.
The mayor highlighted that fleet replacement had been underway since January 2022, with more than 80 vehicles entering the city’s transport system so far. This year, 19 vehicles have already been handed over.
Ten new Mercedes-Benz Conecto buses with full low-floor will enter service from 1 July, and ten more will arrive in the autumn. In total, 119 Mercedes buses will replace the Volvo buses.
The Volvos put into service in 2009 will be replaced in the next year, as they have been for the last year and a half, so the Volvo fleet will be completely replaced. Emissions are 17-18 per cent lower in the new vehicles, and the replacement has also proved effective in reducing particulate matter, the mayor added.
The mayor recalled that 12 fully electric vehicles had been put into service in the last year, further improving the city’s sustainable public transport parameters.
He underlined that commissioning the new industrial parks will pose further challenges for the city’s public transport system: the number of vehicles will have to be optimised to cater for the increasing flow of workers.
“We aim to take significant steps towards sustainable transport in the coming years by building solar parks on municipal land. If funding is available, we want to make progress in energy production to make public transport cheaper,” the mayor said.
DKV is also implementing other improvements to improve passenger comfort. Night services have been introduced after consultation with students: they will remain in the future, but their utilisation needs to be evaluated, and departure times may need to be adjusted, the mayor noted.
CEO of DKV Zrt. Szabolcs Tóth pointed out that low-floor, air-conditioned, solo vehicles will be put into service this year. He stressed that many buses are already equipped with passenger counters, which are used to map the utilisation of the routes so that they can correct the departure times and timetables of the routes if necessary.
A further forty articulated Mercedes-Benz Conecto buses are expected next year: these will also be low-floor, modern buses and will complete the fleet replacement when they arrive.
The real-time passenger information system has been upgraded, and they want to improve it in the future to be available on iOs devices. According to Szabolcs Tóth, more and more people are using the applications, which also provide real-time information on the traffic of vehicles on fixed tracks.
He also reported on a system launched on a trial basis: to help validate mobile phone tickets. It is not necessary to scan the QR code at the door with the mobile phone, as the phone detects the vehicle via Bluetooth, which is how the identification and ticket validation are done.
He also pointed out that the number of tickets and passes bought electronically constantly increases.
Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Facebook (Papp László)
