Zuokas to overhaul Vilnius

VILNIUS - Cancellation of the use of all trolley-buses has been discussed in Vilnius City, with the alternative being that the city could use trams and ecological buses, said Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas, reports news portal Kurier.lt. “We will [remove] trolley-buses from the city in the nearest ten years, and replace them with trams and environment friendly buses,” Zuokas said. At the same time, along a similar theme, he said that construction of homes operating via solar power can be expected in Vilnius.

The head of Vilnius city noted that the transport infrastructure is ineffective in Vilnius since the density of population is not high in the capital city, and buses often go to places where few inhabitants live. Therefore, the mayor intends to level out the density of the population in the city; for this purpose, he plans housing construction in industrial areas, as well as a residential complex using mainly solar power.

“We plan to build a complex of eight block houses which would use a minimum amount of typical energy sources, and they would also produce energy themselves, using wind and solar power,” Zuokas noted.
Meanwhile, Vilniaus Viesasis Transportas announced a tender on the acquisition of 19 environment friendly buses which use natural gas. As Vilniaus Viesasis Transportas Director General Gintaras Nakutis stated, new buses will be produced in six months from the moment of receiving of pre-payment. “We hope to receive the new buses before the New Year,” Nakutis said.

Currently Vilnius owns 376 buses, 178 of them have been in use for more than 15 years.