Gas station for fuel-saving buses - Novi Sad-based transportation company to buy gas-powered vehicles

The Administration of the City Transportation Company in Novi Sad should choose one of the three bids on the tender for purchase of 10 gas-powered buses, for which 190m RSD have already been set aside in the company's budget. These fuel-saving vehicles should become a part of the motor pool by the end of the year. After a three-month break, construction of a gas-filling station on the company's grounds is close to end, and it is expected to be put in operation in November.

Construction of the first public gas-filling station in Novi Sad in the garage of the City Transportation Company (GSP) should have already been finished, but the works were discontinued for nearly three months because of the unresolved ownership-legal relations. Namely, according to the claims of well-informed sources close to GSP, the parcel where the new gas-filling station for buses and automobiles is being built is not completely owned by the city, that is, GSP. Such claims were rejected by the Administration of GSP, while the people in company "Novi Sad - Gas", which is going to install the gas-filling station, said that the works had been discontinued for the unknown reason.

- Everything goes as planned, maybe a bit slower than expected, but the gas-filling station will be finished and put in operation. It is true that the problem occurred when we came across telephone cable while digging the base for the gas-filling station, and we had to be very careful to avoid making a damage - GSP announced officially.

By the way, the gas-filling station will be situated next to the gas station on the company's grounds, and the investment worth about 1m EUR is being realized in association with "Novi Sad - Gas". The gas distributor is in charge of installation of the unit, while GSP finances making of connections, stands for compressors and eaves. The works were expected to be finished at the beginning of the year, but the crisis postponed announcement of the tender for procurement of buses, as well as realization of the project for construction of the gas-filling station. The presence of problems has also been confirmed by Jovo Vujanović, the CEO of "Novi Sad-Gas".

- Construction of the gas-filling station was discontinued, but it has been resumed now, and we expect that the station will be put in operation at the end of October. The gas-filling station will be used not only by the buses of GSP, but also by the third persons - said he.

Cheaper on long-term basis

Purchase of gas-powered buses whose price is up to 20% higher than the prices of diesel-powered vehicles is justified by the calculation that the price of fuel and the method of maintenance make them cheaper in general. The City Transportation Company bought one gas-powered bus from "Ikarbus" in 2005 in order to try that model. The people from the Technical Department of GSP say that the vehicle proved to be very good because it is much simpler for maintenance and offers better control of fuel consumption.

(Note: complete text is taken over from newspaper "Blic" of September 8th, 2009)