National Bureau of Statistics: More than 67 million passengers used public transport in the first three months of this year
More than 67 million passengers used public transport in the first three months of this year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. The number is up 30 percent compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the president of the Employers' Association of Car Transport Operators, Oleg Alexa, told Radio Moldova that although the number of people transported is on the rise, it has not reached the figures attested before the pandemic.
According to statistics, the number of people who chose to travel by air increased by 2.3 times, by rail by 42%, by electric and road transport by 30% each, and by river transport by only 1.3%.
In the travel structure, significant shares of trips were made by electric transport, accounting for more than 68% of the total, and by road - 30.9%.
Trolleybuses carried 46 million passengers, of which more than 40 million in Chisinau and 4.8 million in Balti.
At the same time, in January-March, about 21 million passengers travelled by buses and minibuses, 87% of them in cities and adjacent localities.
The number of passengers is constantly increasing, but the figures recorded before the pandemic have not been reached, Oleg Alexa, president of the Employers' Association of Motor Transport Operators, told our radio station.
"The flow is slowly starting to return to the pre-pandemic period, but we are not there yet. Although we are growing every year by a little, we have not yet reached the pre-pandemic situation. Growth certainly has a good influence, more passengers means more revenue. We have other data, around 25% of trips are not made at all and around 10-15% of trips are made with some deviations", said Oleg Alex.
Statistics also show that in January-March, rail, road, river and air transport enterprises transported 4 million tons of goods. The quantity decreased by 12 percent compared to the same period last year.
