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Implementing long-term goals for the city of Ljubljana

Posted: 18 January 2009 | Darja Krstic, Director, LLP | No comments yet

The most important task of Ljubljanski potniški promet d.o.o. (LPP) is to ensure comfortable and undisturbed public transport for the Municipality of Ljubljana and the 16 suburban municipalities. Our goal is to make bus transportation the best alternative to the personal car.

There are approximately 1,000 employees in LPP striving to provide modern, comfortable, safe and reliable transportation to the citizens of Ljubljana, as well as those living in suburban municipalities, who come to work or school in Ljubljana on a daily basis. By purchasing new, modern, air-conditioned and environmentally friendly buses, providing regular training for our drivers, timetable optimisation and many other projects and measures, we are already able to provide quality public transportation services. By implementing our long-term goals, we will ensure that public transport in Ljubljana and the surrounding areas becomes even more reliable and comfortable and thus the best choice for travelling around the city.

The most important task of Ljubljanski potniški promet d.o.o. (LPP) is to ensure comfortable and undisturbed public transport for the Municipality of Ljubljana and the 16 suburban municipalities. Our goal is to make bus transportation the best alternative to the personal car. There are approximately 1,000 employees in LPP striving to provide modern, comfortable, safe and reliable transportation to the citizens of Ljubljana, as well as those living in suburban municipalities, who come to work or school in Ljubljana on a daily basis. By purchasing new, modern, air-conditioned and environmentally friendly buses, providing regular training for our drivers, timetable optimisation and many other projects and measures, we are already able to provide quality public transportation services. By implementing our long-term goals, we will ensure that public transport in Ljubljana and the surrounding areas becomes even more reliable and comfortable and thus the best choice for travelling around the city.

The most important task of Ljubljanski potniški promet d.o.o. (LPP) is to ensure comfortable and undisturbed public transport for the Municipality of Ljubljana and the 16 suburban municipalities. Our goal is to make bus transportation the best alternative to the personal car.

There are approximately 1,000 employees in LPP striving to provide modern, comfortable, safe and reliable transportation to the citizens of Ljubljana, as well as those living in suburban municipalities, who come to work or school in Ljubljana on a daily basis. By purchasing new, modern, air-conditioned and environmentally friendly buses, providing regular training for our drivers, timetable optimisation and many other projects and measures, we are already able to provide quality public transportation services. By implementing our long-term goals, we will ensure that public transport in Ljubljana and the surrounding areas becomes even more reliable and comfortable and thus the best choice for travelling around the city.

Historical highlights

The development of public transport in Ljubljana has always been inseparably connected with the lives of the citizens and with the development of the city itself. The image of the today’s city would not be the same without the ‘green urban buses’.

The history of public transport in Ljubljana started on 6 September 1901 when the first tram appeared on the city roads. In 1901, the General Small Railway Company was indeed small, as it only had 13 drive carriages, one trailer and a carriage for spreading salt on the roads during the winter, and employed 64 people. In each of the drive carriages there was room for 30 people (16 seating and 14 standing) and the trams travelled at a top speed of up to 30 kilometres per hour. By the end of 1901, the Ljubljana trams had travelled approximately 136,000 kilometres and transported about 330,000 passengers.

After the Second World War, Ljubljana started expanding quickly and the tram was no longer capable of covering the growing needs of the city. Personal cars began to invade the roads and this was one more reason to rearrange the traffic regulation in the streets of Ljubljana, so that personal cars would get more room on the roadway surfaces. In the middle of the 1950s, the first regular trolleybuses and buses started driving around the city and on 20 December 1958, the tram took its final ride and was finally removed from the roads.

Just like trams, the trolleybuses used electricity for their operation and were therefore dependent on the electrical lines around the city. Unfortunately, trolleybuses were not very well received. The trolleybus took its last ride around Ljubljana on 4 September 1971, after which it was completely replaced by buses.

The 1960s and 1970s brought unexpected development of urban public transport and the company, which changed its name to Viator in 1971, gradually expanded its operations throughout Slovenia.

In 1977, Viator merged with the company SAP to form SOZD SAP-VIATOR, in the scope of which the Urban passenger traffic organisation, Mestni potniški promet, was already operating.

What followed were further mergers and alliances between different traffic, tourist and hotel organisations all over Slovenia, as on 25 March 1981, Viator became part of SOZD INTEGRAL. At that time, its present name appeared for the first time, namely as a work organisation ‘Ljubljanski potniški promet’. Integral was such a dominant company at that time and is so deeply rooted in the minds of the people that many of them still use that name, even though the LPP has been operating as an independent public company for more than 15 years.

In 1989, LPP decided to leave Integral, as there was no further development potential in terms of the organisational and business strategy that would allow further development of this activity for Ljubljana, its inhabitants, visitors and its suburban areas. LPP thus became a public company in the service of the people of our capital city and all those who live in the suburban municipalities.

The company today

Public passenger transport in Ljubljana has always been on the increase, even since its beginnings in 1901.

As we are a public company, it is essential that we co-operate closely with the Municipality of Ljubljana (MOL) and the suburban municipalities which represent their inhabitants and our passengers to whom we wish to provide modern, comfortable, safe and reliable transportation on their daily travel routes.

Today, the company Javno podjetje Ljubljanski potniški promet d.o.o. is a limited liability company. The sole owner and founder of LPP d.o.o. is JAVNI HOLDING Ljubljana, d.o.o. Besides the transportation of passengers in public urban and interurban traffic, with the nature of a public utility company, our auxiliary activities comprise the maintenance and repairs of commercial vehicles, technical examinations, type approvals and attestation of vehicles and occasional transportations (tourist, school and special purpose transportations) at home and abroad.

In 2008 we purchased 24 new buses from M.A.N:

  • 16 Lion’s City G/GL for MPP and 3 Lion’s City LL
  • 3 Lion’s Regio C
  • 2 Lion’s Coach for OPP

Urban Passenger Traffic (MPP)

MPP operates over 21 lines at a total length of 249.7 kilometres. In 2007, the urban buses drove a combined total of 11 million kilometres and transported over 85 million passengers. Line 6 carries the most passengers on a daily basis, namely 32,000, followed by line 1 with 22,000 and line 20 with 19,000 passengers.

The network of lines covers approximately 93.3% of the urban area of MOL, which means that 93.3% of households in Ljubljana are less than five hundred metres away from the nearest bus stop, and therefore meeting the European standard.

The transport of passengers in the territory of MOL is provided throughout the year but the time schedule and frequency changes. It is adjusted to the school calendar and summer holidays when the volume of passengers is reduced. The number of passengers is the largest in winter and on weekdays, during morning and afternoon rush hours. If the weather is nice, we transport around 200,000 passengers a day.

Vehicle fleet data (at 31 September 2008)

  • 205 buses
  • 11 years and 3 months average age
  • 131 modern low-floor vehicles
  • 52 vehicles equipped with entry/exit wheelchair access
  • 131 vehicles equipped with audio announcers
  • 126 vehicles equipped with visual LCD displays
  • 51 vehicles with special small displays of line numbers, adjusted to partially sighted passengers
  • 205 vehicles with seats reserved for the disabled
  • 151 vehicles with extra space for passengers in wheelchairs
  • 115 vehicles equipped with air-conditioning systems
  • 49 vehicles equipped with security cameras

Interurban Passenger Traffic (OPP)

OPP provides transport services to passengers from 15 municipalities around Ljubljana. Moreover, the interurban traffic comprises the services of arranged tourist, school and special purpose transports.

The length of all regular lines in the interurban traffic is 824 kilometres. In 2007, the interurban buses transported a total of 3.5 million kilometres on all lines, and 1 million kilometres on special lines and occasional transports. In 2007, regular line transports were used by 2.4 million passengers.

Vehicle fleet data (at 31 September 2008)

  • 65 buses
  • 6 years and 11 month average age
  • 61 vehicles equipped with air-conditioning systems
  • 11 modern low-floor vehicles
  • 11 vehicles equipped with security cameras

LPP Workshops – a tradition that guarantees quality and trust

The Workshops Sector ensures LPP buses are in perfect condition and provides the servicing and repairs of the commercial vehicles for external clients.

The LPP workshops are authorised services for:

  • MAN, TAM and Mercedes Benz buses
  • VOITH transmission systems
  • BROSE inscription plates
  • PREBIL air-conditioning systems
  • WEBASTO heating systems
  • VDO SIEMENS and STONERIDGE tachographs
  • KNORR break systems
  • PASTOR, GLORIA and WEBO fire extinguishers

Technical Examinations and Vehicle Type Approval

LPP Technical Examinations is the oldest and largest provider of technical examinations in Slovenia, which has been providing quality services for its clients for 46 years.

Mission and vision

To provide modern, comfortable, safe and reliable public transport services for the people of the Ljubljana Urban Region (LUR).

Vision

  • Keep its status as the largest public carrier and become one of the leaders in the area of integrated public transport in LUR
  • Develop modern, comfortable, safe and reliable transport that will follow the state-of-the-art technologies, consumer flows and ecological orientation
  • Stimulate the establishment of conditions which will guarantee that public transport becomes a desirable and preferential alternative to other types of transport by participating in the regional development programme of LUR and the strategy of sustainable development of the Municipality of Ljubljana

Policies

  • Provide modern, comfortable, safe, reliable and customer-tailored public transport and other services
  • Constantly increase the satisfaction of customers, business partners, social environment representatives and employees in accordance with the business determinations and abilities of the company
  • Manage and reduce harmful impacts on the environment in all phases of business processes
  • Prevent any harmful impact upon underground water at the location of the company which is within a water protection area
  • Provide constant improvement of working conditions and reduce the risks that influence the safety and health at work of employees and contractual partners
  • Constant improvement of the system of management, safety and health at work and protection of the environment
  • Improve the efficiency of the company
  • Improve the information for users and the visibility of the company

Near future

  • Next year, the Common City Card project will be realised, which is a smartcard paymet method for city buses and other services in the city
  • In the framework of the project Civitas Elan purchase of minibuses and hybrid buses is planned as part of the Civitas clean and efficient vehicles demonstration

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