This situation has led to a noticeable increase in the load on other modes of public transportation, but they do not always cope with the passenger flow. People wait for a long time at stops, get nervous and indignant. In order to avoid a transportation collapse, the city authorities had to put additional buses and trolleybuses on the line on an emergency basis. The possibility of purchasing new trolleybuses and minibuses is being studied. The recruitment of new drivers has been announced, but no responses to the vacancies have been received so far.
People from suburban villages and remote neighborhoods are brought to trolleybus stops by municipal buses. But this does not solve the problem as a whole.
In Bender, the majority of shuttle bus drivers work with their own cars. According to the terms of the implementation of the ASOP system project, the drivers were offered new contract terms: a transition to a stable salary of 7 thousand Transnistrian rubles. At the same time, he himself must pay for the repair of the car and operating costs. The key requirement: to install a validator in each minibus for electronic fare payment by passengers.
As a result, almost all minibus drivers in Bender refused to fulfill these requirements. As you know, in Transnistrian cities from July 1, 2025 a complete transition to the system of automated fare payment (AFC) is carried out. All vehicles – buses, trolleybuses, minibuses – must be equipped with validators. In essence, this is a cash register designed for transparency of cash flows. Along with the main function of fare payment, the validator makes it possible to control traffic by GPS.
The plan-schedule for the implementation of AFC for 2022-2024 was presented by the government of the unrecognized republic three years ago. It provided for the allocation of 5.322 million rubles from the republican budget for the purchase of validators and software. The validators were purchased at the same time. The implementation of the project began in 2024.
The introduction of the automated fare payment system is an integral part of a more comprehensive program of digitalization of business, social services and public administration in Transnistria. The process of digitalization of the lists of pupils from schools in the cities of Tiraspol and Bender, as well as university, college and technical school students is underway. The lists of pensioners who are entitled to free trolleybus travel are being clarified. Currently, there are 34 privileged categories of passengers in TMR, with different levels of benefits – 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%.
Thus, a large-scale technological project is being implemented all over the Left Bank. And it is not just electronic fare payment. The complex tasks of compiling a complete and unified database (in which all privileged passengers are included), transparent tax deductions from carriers, reformatting the logistics of transport routes, and adjusting the financing of trolleybus departments are being implemented.
Separately, it should be mentioned that the system of payment for transportation works exclusively with the bank card “Clover”, which is issued by three Transnistrian banks: “Agroprombank”, “Sberbank” and “Eximbank”. For those who do not have a bank account or do not want to open an account, there is an alternative option – a prepaid card. It can be obtained without a passport and even without a bank account. Very convenient for tourists.
The system of how the card “Clover” works for the privileged looks thoughtful. The privileged passenger puts the card to the validator and the full cost of the trolleybus fare is withdrawn from it. The next day the card receives a cashback – 100% for pensioners and 50% for students.
At present, the municipally owned buses and trolleybuses that run in Tiraspol and Bender are equipped with validators. Their purchase was financed from the state budget. In Tiraspol, it was possible to equip the shuttle buses with validators. The implementation of the AFC system continues in Ribnita, Camenca, Dubasari and Grigoriopol.
For example, in Camenca and Ribnita, validators are available in buses and minibuses, but drivers report that some passengers still pay in cash. Opinions, as usual, are divided. More and more drivers and passengers say that electronic payment is more convenient, because they do not need to look for change and thus distracted from the driving process.
Interestingly, it was in Bender that the first pilot project to install validators (fixed and portable) in the trolleybuses of the municipal Bender Trolleybus Department started in 2024. This is about 20 transport units. But something went wrong with the shuttle buses in Bender….
