Dashnor Mema, head of the urban transport association, told ATA that the decision to suspend service was made after protesters smashed the windows of the buses.

The damage has led to a temporary interruption of service on these lines, affecting citizens who rely on public transport for their daily travel.

Preliminary estimates place the material damage caused to the public transport bus fleet during the protests in Tirana at approximately 2 million lekë.

Kostandin Foni, head of the National Urban Transport Association, said that the extent of the damage is still being assessed and verified; therefore, the final figure may change once a full evaluation of the damage is completed.

According to him, the protests resulted in damage to vehicles and service interruptions, preventing public transport operators from completing their scheduled routes. Foni emphasized that the temporary suspension of service was necessitated by the inability to ensure the normal and safe movement of buses, as well as the need to protect passengers and staff and prevent further damage.

He underscored that a return to normal traffic conditions does not necessarily mean an immediate resumption of full-capacity service, as the damaged buses require repairs and technical inspections before they can return to operation.

The suspension of public transport directly affects citizens who rely on buses daily to commute to work, reach educational institutions and attend to other everyday needs.

The National Urban Transport Association has stated that the full restoration of service will depend on stabilization of the situation, the assurance of safe traffic conditions and the completion of repairs to the damaged vehicles.

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President of the Bus Association Dashnor Memaj told ATA that the operators will receive a three-month subsidy to help stabilize and restore normal operations.

“Full bus services will resume, supported by a three-month subsidy,” said Memaj.

The agreement was reached after a meeting with representatives of the relevant institutions, where there was discussed on the situation created in public transport and the need for support for operators.

The agreed subsidy is 50 lek per liter of fuel, with the exact timeframe for this measure still to be determined.

City bus service will soon return to normal as the full fleet gets back on the road after recent operator cutbacks.

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Tirana’s urban bus operators are excluded from this total, as the Municipality of Tirana covers their compensation. For these lines, 20 entities have filed claims with the Tax Administration totaling 66.1 million lekë.

This support scheme helps public transport operators manage high fuel costs and maintain reliable services for citizens.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama posted in the social media images of numerous tourists who have chosen to visit Tirana have a taste and get acquainted with the attractions and history of the capital more closely through the scenic tour.

Rama wrote that the double-decker takes visitors through the busy streets of Tirana, showing them the history, colors and vibrancy of our city.

The hip on, hip off double-decker gives an opportunity to the domestic and foreign visitors for a sightseeing tour all over the city, exploring the attractions, monuments and history of the city, from Skanderbeg Square in Tirana downtown to Bunk’Art 1, accompanied by a multilingual audio guide that makes their tour rather friendly. /p.s./

President of the Urban and Intercity Transport Association Dashnor Memaj told ATA today that, “This decision was approved at the meeting of the Kamza municipal council on October 26, following the request of the licensed private operator that manages the service of the two bus lines. So, beginning from today, November 1, the ticket has increased by 10 lekë”.

Memaj noted that, “This decision was based on an in-depth financial analysis, where costs significantly exceeded revenues and Kamza municipality did not have a budget to subsidize public transport, as Tirana municipality currently does”.

The Municipal Council has also approved the increase in the monthly ticket for these lines, which has gone up from 1,200 lekë to 1,400 lekë, an increase of 200 lekë.

According to Memaj, the price of the general monthly ticket is not affected by the changes, but changes only for these 2 lines.

Asked if a price increase is foreseen for the urban lines of the capital, Memaj said that, “There is no increase for Tirana bus lines and it is not foreseen because they are currently subsidized by the municipality”.

Speaking about improvement of public transport services within the capital, Memaj emphasized that, “There is undoubtedly a need for improvement in the urban infrastructure as a whole, but also in vehicles because there should be more frequent and faster movements, but this should be done by the infrastructure of dedicated bus lanes, which significantly increase the speed of movement”. /k.s/ /a.g/p.s./

In cooperation with Albanian partners, GIZ has conducted an extensive survey in Tirana, Elbasan and Vlora to measure the level of passenger satisfaction. Their aim is to better understand the experience of citizens, so that concrete measures can be implemented to improve public transport.

The indicators show that in Tirana, the overall satisfaction rate has increased by 40% since 2022. The factors that received the highest ratings are information on buses, average waiting time and money worthiness.

According to GIZ, the three categories with the lowest levels of satisfaction are bus cleanliness, bus travel time and personal safety at the bus station.

Another important finding is that 69% of public transport users are women, who rely on the bus for going to work, childcare and daily travel. According to GIZ, the investments made in recent years, especially in passenger information, line reliability and extended operating hours, have influenced these results, while emphasizing that it will continue to support Albanian partners to further advance with improvements in public transport, with the aim of making the lives of citizens and visitors easier. /p.s./

The Monthly tickets has the name and photo of the pensioner.

When traveling on bus, the pensioners should have not only the monthly ticket, but also the ID card.

There were queues of pensioners today at the distribution points. They said they would like the ticket should be for a 1-year period so that they don’t have to stand in long lines every month. According to them, another, more optimal solution is needed so that they would not have to wait in line.

The monthly tickets of the pensioners will be subsidized by the Tirana municipality.

Thanks to this initiative, proposed by Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj and approved by Tirana municipal council, benefit 177 thousand pensioners, who have the opportunity to be provided with free monthly tickets for public transport.

From December 16, citizens continue to appear at the municipal units to register on the portal for obtaining the right to pensioner ticket.

Beneficiaries are all residents of the municipality of Tirana, women who have reached the age of 60 and men who have reached the age of 65. /k.s//a.f/p.s./

Thanks to this initiative of Mayor Erion Veliaj and approved by the Tirana Municipal Council, there will benefit 177 thousand pensioners.

To register in the portal for obtaining the right to a pensioner monthly ticket, the elderly citizens must appear at the respective municipal units where they reside, starting from December 16.

The monthly ticket is received at designated points at the kiosks near some of the bus stations. /r.e/p.s./

The Municipal Council of Tirana took the decision today only with the votes of the councilors of the ruling Socialist Party.

The Municipality of Tirana said that, “This decision addresses the needs of pensioners for free of charge public transport and is a promise kept Mayor Erion Veliaj to support the most sensitive strata of the society, alleviating the economic and social challenges they face every day”.

In Tirana, the students also travel with a free ticket for more than a year. The free tickets for the students and pensioners will be available through electronic platforms, such as the Student Card and the Pensioner Card. This project aims to make public transport more accessible and improve mobility for all citizens.

The free tickets will be fully funded by the Municipality of Tirana and will be available to students enrolled in educational institutions and to pensioners over 60 years old for women and over 65 years old for men. The number of pensioners within the territory of the Municipality of Tirana is about 178 thousand.

The Municipality of Tirana will monitor the performance of transport operators, using advanced systems, to ensure that the service is provided in accordance with the highest standards. /a.f/p.s./

Prime Minister Edi Rama shared views of the East Terminal in the social media and appreciated it as another example of promoting the service infrastructure to a completely different level.

Students and citizens, who travel from the east to Tirana and vice versa, will not wait for hours to take the bus. The terminal is conceived as a connection point between urban, intercity and international transport.

The new terminal, near the Big Ring Road and Tirana-Elbasan highway consists of open areas, lobbies, citizens’ waiting rooms, ticket offices, as well as recreational facilities.

The terminal is designed over an area of 14,000 square meters and there are stationed all the entrances and exits of intercity and international buses, coming from the side of Elbasan road./p.s./