Call for applications for used buses from the EU by the NGO “Vision Zero” and the Association “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine”

Used buses from German cities now connect the settlements of the Bucha community. Photo: The Buchanski Novyny newspaper 
(the printed organ of the Buchansk city territorial community)

A survey for communities on the need for humanitarian buses has been launched in Ukraine. This is the initiative of the NGO Vision Zero and the Association of Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine (EECU) to assess the demand for used (humanitarian) buses for Ukrainian communities and to establish communication with potential vehicle suppliers in Europe.

“Under martial law, many Ukrainian cities are limited in their investments in public transportation. The way out of this situation, albeit temporarily, is humanitarian aid from European municipalities. Some communities, including large cities or those affected by the occupation, have already received and continue to receive used buses from Europe that are perfectly suitable for use on urban and suburban routes. Our initiative is aimed at encouraging local community leaders to more actively engage humanitarian buses from Europe and improve urban transportation with their help,” said Svyatoslav Pavliuk, Executive Director of EECU.

In order to apply for used (humanitarian) buses from European countries, local community leaders need to fill out a special electronic form. “Filling out the questionnaire is a voluntary notification of potential interest and does not oblige to receive the buses in the future,” the preamble to the online form says. The questionnaire collects information on the number of people in the community, the presence of a municipal carrier, the number of buses required and their type (small, medium, standard or high-capacity).

The electronic form for applying for used buses for Ukrainian utilities is available here.

“The destruction of energy generation facilities by the aggressor state has also exacerbated problems in the field of transportation, and buses are now also needed as replacement vehicles on trolleybus and tram routes. As a non-governmental organization, we would like to understand what is the approximate need for buses and bring this information to transport associations in the EU. We don't know how many other buses in decent condition are available in the EU that their owners would be willing to donate to Ukrainian communities. But those who do not ask, do not receive. Our goal is to try to find out, and in case of positive answers, and if the offered buses still have a working life, then help communities get these vehicles they need,” said Viktor Zagreba, Chairman of the Board of the NGO ‘Vision Zero’.

Humanitarian buses on city routes

After the de-occupation of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions in the spring of 2022, some cities in these regions began receiving used buses from friendly European countries as humanitarian aid. This allowed them to improve the level of public transportation and create an alternative to public electric transport during the power outages in late 2022 and early 2023. For example, Kyiv received more than 100 used buses from European cities, Chernihiv received more than 10 units, and so on.

With the help of used European buses, some cities were able to organize passenger transportation, which before the full-scale invasion was either absent or carried out by small vehicles of private carriers. In particular, in the summer of 2022, Bucha received the first buses from the German cities of Dresden and Bergisch Gladbach. In November of the same year, a municipal carrier, Buchatransservice, was established in the Bucha city territorial community to operate them. The new company started operating in May 2023 on four routes connecting Bucha with other settlements of the community.

At the same time, according to the NGO Vision Zero, the use of used buses from European cities received as humanitarian aid is not regulated by Ukrainian law, which creates legal obstacles to the operation of the vehicles on the routes. To resolve this issue, in April of this year, draft law No. 11165 was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Civil society organizations and communities are waiting for this or a similar law to be adopted, which will allow the use of buses on routes with fare collection.