Sokolov made a proposal that could cost the budget dearly.

      According to Alexander Valentinovich, the color of the bus should indicate the transportation's belonging to the state:

      "Public transport in Kirov should be uniform. It shouldn't be the case that one bus is red, another white, and so on. We need to develop a single form, a unified brand so that it's clear that this is state transportation."

      In the comments on the regional government’s post, a justified question was raised as to how transport can be considered "state" if it is part of JSCs and LLCs.

      In Kirov, out of 39 bus routes, only nine, along with six trolleybus routes, are operated by the municipal carrier JSC "ATP" (which is 100% owned by the administration). The remaining 30 belong to private operators, such as LLC "Azhimet" or TEP "Trans-Auto."

      It appears that this fact was not taken into account by our governor, who recklessly "expanded" the municipal fleet with this statement. The question remains: how will a unified design be implemented — by purchasing new vehicles or repainting the old ones? And what will private operators do?

      While the transport is delayed — we're choosing its color

      We discussed the governor’s initiative with former head of Kirov's ATP, Denis Pyrlog:

      "In my opinion, a unified design code, a single brand for regional public transport — that’s cool, great, and recognizable. The other question is — how much will it cost? We understand that in Kirov, unfortunately, public transport does not always arrive on time, and passengers are not always satisfied with our public transport.

      Therefore, perhaps a single brand is not the top priority, but overall, when purchasing new buses, trolleybuses, etc., this should probably be given attention. Again, the question is: what will this cost?

      To buy buses and trolleybuses in a different color, not in the standard white which does not require extra payment, you will need to spend additionally for a specific color — I think around 250,000 to 350,000 rubles per unit. Accordingly, spending these extra funds on “color” is already a significant amount. I believe that, at minimum, this is incorrect because there are other problems, such as wages for drivers, conductors, other service staff, and so on.”

      Additionally, if existing buses are repainted, they will need to be re-registered with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, changes made to the vehicle passport (PTS) and registration certificate (STS), and associated state fees paid. All these expenses could easily fall on the passengers in the form of increased public transportation fares.