JSP/Photo: Free Press/Slobodan Djuric

In the "moving advertisements" of the JSP, passengers do not know where they have arrived or where to get off the bus.

JSP has an advertising contract with the company "Maraton" signed for 10 years, valid until 2028, which apparently does not prohibit the entire bus from being covered with advertisements. It is not known whether the company can influence the manner of advertising at all, because they are completely non-transparent to the public.

In some of the JSP buses, the feeling is like riding in a closed can, in which the passenger has no orientation as to where they have reached on their way to their desired destination. The buses, which are moving advertisements, pasted over the windows, create an uncomfortable feeling among passengers, who have to peek through the driver's window to see if their stop is approaching or can only see where they are when the door opens at the stop.

Recently, we happened to witness a woman, talking on the phone, trying to tell her interlocutor where she was at the moment. After unsuccessfully trying to see something through the window, she stood up, opened the window, and peered out to see that the bus was passing by the Cathedral.

I don't know who allows them to cover all the windows with advertisements, isn't the rest of the buses enough that they won't bother the passengers? It's a terrible feeling when I ride in such a bus, a person is completely disoriented. It's especially bad when the vehicle is crowded, so you can't even see through the windshield. I count the stops to know when I have to get off. And what about people who don't know the city well enough and who orient themselves by some landmarks or famous buildings? This is really unacceptable and nothing to anyone. No one is doing anything to provide citizens with normal transportation conditions - says an outraged citizen.

JSP/Photo: Free Press/Slobodan Djuric

JSP "Skopje", as well as many other questions, do not answer when the practice of sticking advertisements on buses that cover the entire windows, from which people cannot see where they have reached while riding the bus, will stop.

As a reminder, JSP has an advertising contract with the company "Maraton" signed for 10 years, which is valid until 2028, which means three more years, in which it is apparently not forbidden to cover the entire bus with advertisements. It is also unknown whether the company can influence the method of advertising at all, because they are therefore completely non-transparent towards the public or simply do not care about the problems that passengers have, even though they do not receive public transport for free but pay for the service.

JSP/Photo: Free Press/Slobodan Djuric

Another problem faced by citizens who use buses every day is the cleanliness of the vehicles – both inside and out. They are rare in that they have decent conditions for transportation. In some buses, the exterior is so dirty that even though there are no advertisements on the windows, you can't see through them because of the dirt.

In this regard, the JSP has repeatedly stated that hygiene is maintained daily in all vehicles that are put into traffic, that the buses are washed externally at the end of the day and the garbage is collected from the vehicle, but they never forget to blame the citizens for the unhygienic conditions in the buses, who, as they claim, behave inappropriately in terms of hygiene. But if the vehicles are washed every night, then how do they manage to accumulate so much dirt by the first stop?

Photo: Free Press

There have been many shortcomings and problems with public transport in the past two years. The regularity situation has changed little since private transporters started operating again two months ago, which means passengers no longer have to wait for an hour at bus stations. But everything else remains the same – the same old fleet, “patched up” buses that have been running for decades, some with punctured bodies, broken turn signals and taillights, and line numbers written with markers on paper.

This morning, for example, on Partizanski Odredi Boulevard, a bus on line 7 unloaded passengers with the explanation that the bus had broken down, although according to the passengers, the bus showed no such "signs" while they were riding.

Then, one of the controllers, who was also present in the 7-minute bus, "waved" to one of the passing buses, which stopped in the middle lane of the boulevard, opened the doors and we squeezed between the cars to get on and get to work on time. So, it's terrible what's happening with transportation, they don't care about the safety of passengers. Someone will get hurt because of their improvisations - one of the passengers tells about yesterday's incident.

JSP/Photo: Free Press/Slobodan Djuric

The attitude of some drivers towards citizens, which for many is very humiliating, remains unchanged.

At the Record station in the direction of the Center, almost no bus stops exactly at the station, where many citizens regularly wait. They continue to drive another 20 meters or more after the station and then they open the doors and people are forced to run after the bus to get into it. So whoever gets there, gets there. It's a shame, why do we have to wait for them, why do their buses "break down", and they still play with us - says Dejan B. from Gjorce Petrov.

Dear reader,

Our access to web content is free, because we believe in equality in information, regardless of whether someone can pay or not. Therefore, in order to continue our work, we ask for the support of our community of readers by financially supporting the Free Press. Become a member of Sloboden Pechat to help the facilities that will enable us to deliver long-term and quality information and TOGETHER let's ensure a free and independent voice that will ALWAYS BE ON THE PEOPLE'S SIDE.

SUPPORT A FREE PRESS.
WITH AN INITIAL AMOUNT OF 100 DENARS

Video of the day