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In February 2018 Prodanubia representatives have organized several meetings with Juraj Droba, regional governor of Bratislava region; he has been presented the intention of Dunajbus and the idea that Dunajbus might become a part of a future BIT – this would mean that approximately 50.000 citizens of so-called Danube region would have the opportunity to travel to Bratislava and within Bratislava, using one single ticket. As the public waterborne transport is declared to be one of priorities to the regional governor, but also to numerous members of regional parliament, the potential that Dunajbus is becoming an integral part of BIT, is very real.
Meetings with the local authorities of city of Bratislava that is the co-founder of BIT will follow in next months. Prodanubia will seek support in the matter of Dunajbus transport that shall link the four city districts of Bratislava (Ružinov, Petržalka, Staré Mesto and Devín) and thus serve the Bratislava citizens as part of local public transport. Prodanubia has been invited to participate on the Danube Transport Day organized in the European Parliament in Bruxelles, presided by Mrs. Violeta Bulc – European Commissioner for Transport.
As keynote speaker, Commissioner Violeta Bulc has sent an important message of support for transforming the Danube into a sustainable core transport axis of the European Union. According to Commissioner Bulc,"The economic potential of the Danube region is infinite, and the European Commission is ready to pay extra attention to inland navigation. Now that we are at a turning point in the transport sector, one in which we are trying to integrate digitalization and sustainability objectives, inland navigation can be a defining element of the European connectivity and logistics network". At this important event, Prodanubia has presented the idea of a regular waterborne transport bearing the brand DunajBus. The project has been welcomed with appreciation and Prodanubia has received an encouragement to develop it furthermore. A public survey has been conducted in May and June 2018 in order to acquire information on public interest in regular waterborne public transport. A surprisingly high number of survey participants and their positive responses to 12 survey questions indicate an enormous interest of region citizens in regular waterborne public transport.
The regular public transport DunajBus might cause an actual decrease of number of vehicles on the roads by 1.500 cars a day; this fact itself represents an important contribution towards the environmental sustainability. At the Danube Transport Day, The European Commission has encouraged stakeholders to put a substantial effort into finding environmental-friendly transport solutions in accordance to the EÚ commitment to decreasing the emissions. That means to exploit engine solutions as an alternative to traditional diesel propulsion. In order to achieve this goal Prodanubia has organized several foreign missions, visiting e.g. the Echandia Marine in Swedish Stockholm – an important innovator in electric marine propulsion technology and expert in the electric ferry systems of the future. The Echandia Marine has been the first to develop a prototype of fast passenger electric ferry. Results of prototype testing co-funded by a European program represent an important milestone in the process of obtaining a reliable solution of eco-friendly propulsion. Several alternative technologies are currently being tested; hopefully Dunajbus will be the first complex waterborne transport system in the world to use an environmentally friendly propulsion alternative.
Based on public survey results, a Study of regular passenger waterborne transport use has been conducted by University of Žilina. The study has indicated that in average 6.000 citizens would use a regular waterborne transport daily to attend school or work. The study has also shown that mainly car travelers represent potential clients of this transport. There are also thousands of cyclists that would appreciate a waterway connecting cycle routes on both shores of Danube, but also a daily transport to work.
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