The chaotic situation of recent days at urban bus stations appears to be coming to an end this Thursday, as the bus fleet will be fully restored to operation.
The news was confirmed to Citizens.al by Dashnor Memaj, president of the Urban and Interurban Transport Association. The decision came after reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure and the Municipality of Tirana.
"Transportation will be subsidized with 50 lek per liter. We have agreed for the next three months and then we will review the conditions," Memaj confirmed.
Memaj emphasized that another meeting will be held next week, where other economic demands will be discussed, such as VAT, excise duty, and categories that benefit from free travel.
Kostandin Foni, head of the National Association of Urban Transport, told Citizens that this is a quick decision, so that operators do not end up degrading the service.
"I hope that next week the other requests will be discussed, as this amount is insufficient to operate," he stressed.
For two consecutive days, on April 15 and 16, urban transport operated with 40% of the fleet, because no compensation scheme for the increase in fuel prices had been approved for this sector, despite repeated requests from operators.
The association emphasized that this situation did not arise due to the will of the operators, but as a result of the lack of timely institutional support.
Various citizens confirmed to Citizens that in the last two days they have waited more than 40 minutes at stations and, coupled with the traffic, it has been impossible to catch certain work schedules or other commitments.
"I walked from Bardhyl Street to Kinema Agimi, as the buses were full and there was nowhere to get on. I walked for about 30 minutes," told Citizens OD
Erlindi, a student waiting at the station, explained that he had to take two urban lines, "Tirana e Re" and "Porcelani", to go to the Canadian University, located in the Porcelani area, but he too found it impossible to arrive on time.
"Urban people are overcrowded and when they arrive, they are very late," he said.
In conclusion, Kostandin Foni raised another issue, which he hopes will be addressed in the near future. He told Citizens that for the categories that benefit from free travel, no operator, even though it offers this service, has ever been compensated.
"The law has existed since 2014 for this category, but the bylaws have been missing. It is a legal impasse that the Ministry of Transport must resolve," he clarified.
The situation is expected to normalize in the coming days, while citizens hope for a more stable and delay-free service. However, the long-term solution remains closely linked to the full addressing of operators' requests and continued institutional intervention.
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He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
