All bus and trolleybus stops are on the sign from 29 June 2024
Naposledy aktualizováno: 09. 09. 2024 | Publikováno 09. 09. 2024
The character of all PID bus and trolleybus stops will be unified throughout Prague and the Central Bohemia Region from 29 June 2024. To get off at each stop, you will need to press a button in the car in time. To board, it will be sufficient to stand at the stop so that the passenger can be seen by the driver. Waving is no longer necessary. Prague and the Central Bohemian Region are now launching a comprehensive information campaign to ensure that this change is not missed.
The advantages of the new system are faster travel, a higher probability of eliminating or reducing possible delays, smoother driving by eliminating unnecessary braking and starting, and better thermal comfort in the vehicle, as the heat will not be wasted in winter and the air conditioning will work more efficiently in summer. There is also the advantage of making the rules for individual stops clearer – the passenger will no longer have to check whether a stop is on the signal or not. The economy of the operation will also improve and we will be more environmentally friendly, because it is during the departures that most emissions and noise are generated and the bus also has the highest instantaneous fuel consumption.
Signalized stops are nothing new for passengers in the PID system. In Prague alone, only about 30% of bus stops are permanent, and the number of signal stops has been growing rapidly in recent years thanks to the removal of the need to wave at the bus. „This is a trend that has been in place for many years in many places. Unfortunately, there have been different variations in the modes of individual stops. In the Central Bohemian Region and in Prague we will therefore unify the whole system. Buses were already stopping at the sign in about half of the territory and the system has proved very successful. As far as other regions are concerned, and we have no information that problems have arisen there,” says Petr Borecký, the Central Bohemian Region’s councillor for public transport.
„At present, we have a total of about 5,500 bus stops within the PID system in the Central Bohemia Region, of which over 3,000 are already in “on signal” mode. Therefore, the full-scale introduction of stops on signal will not be a novelty for most passengers in the Central Bohemian Region and I am convinced that it will be trouble-free. So far we have not seen any complaints from passengers where this system is already in place,” said Zdeněk Šponar, Director of IDSK.
What people must do to stop a vehicle
For passengers, this change will mean only one thing – they will need to press the button in the car well in advance of the stop so that the driver knows in time to stop and the stop itself is safe and smooth. When waiting at the bus stop, passengers do not have to do anything to stop – they just have to stand where they can be seen by the driver, they do not have to wave.
People do not have to worry about not being able to signal in time. On every bus, the buttons are evenly spaced throughout the car and are accessible from almost every seat, and both the red STOP buttons and the yellow buttons on or near the doors can be used to stop. There’s also no need to worry about buses running people over. Drivers will still be required to wait at the bus stop until the exact departure time if they arrive earlier than the timetable says.
Are you performing? Press the button. Everyone will know about the change
„From June until September, there will be an information campaign in the media, on vehicles and at bus stops so that no one misses this change. “The campaign’s main slogan is Are you getting off? Push the button. That’s really all that matters,” says ROPID director Petr Tomčík. Every bus and trolleybus will carry an information leaflet and round warning stickers will be stuck on the doors. Passengers will also encounter leaflets and posters in various formats at surface transport stops, but also at metro entrances and on trams. „In the coming days, we will be presenting and explaining the new bus stop system in detail on the PID’s social media channels as well as those of individual carriers, cities or municipalities. We have also prepared video clips in which Jan Vondráček, whose voice accompanies us every day in trams and buses, has played the main role. We are also specially informing organisations that associate physically, visually and hearing impaired citizens,” adds Petr Tomčík. The campaign will then return after the holidays to remind schoolchildren who are now on the run of the new system. However, buses will continue to stop at all stops on Prague’s school routes for the little ones.
How to report stops
The way stops are announced in vehicles will be modified from July. Instead of “next stop is on signal”, passengers will hear “press the button to exit”. Information about the next stop will now be announced after the departure from the previous stop to more intuitively guide passengers to the right moment to press the exit button well in advance. Drivers will also have special reminder announcements that they can play on the car speakers if they see fit. In the first weeks after the change, this special announcement will be played at regular intervals in all Prague Transport Company vehicles by its dispatching centre. We assume that after a certain period, when people get used to the new system, such sessions will no longer be needed and only the classic announcement of individual stops will remain.
„The gradual introduction of stops on signal has already ensured in the past an increase in the fluidity of bus public transport, but also considerable economic and environmental benefits. This latest phase will simplify the system for drivers and passengers and will allow them to benefit from the increased fluidity of bus and trolleybus operations, especially in the evening, at night or at weekends, and at bus stops that are heavily used during peak periods of the working day. Already practically all buses in the PID system have demand opening doors, so the widespread extension of stops on signal will actually mean for passengers only pressing the STOP button or demand button on the door in time, preferably immediately after departure from the previous stop. I firmly believe that with the initial mutual friendliness and consideration, the unification of the system will be beneficial for all parties: passengers, drivers and residents in the vicinity of the stops,” concludes Jan Barchánek, Head of the Bus Operations Unit of the Capital City Transport Company. Jan Jan.
Sign stops – a global trend
The nationwide uniform character of stops “on the sign” works in the Czech Republic on regional lines in the entire Ústí nad Liberec region and is gradually being introduced by other cities and regions – for example, last year a number of Central Bohemian cities and the entire Benešov district joined in, and last year this system was introduced without problems in Bratislava, for example. This system has been in place for years in most European cities and regions.