The company is implementing an 8-year contract in Ugra
The appearance of the capital’s Domtransavto company on the Ugra passenger transportation services market provoked a harsh reaction from industry officials and was associated with a dispute between business entities in court during the implementation of transport reform. The carrier was accused of attempts to monopolize the market, possible bankruptcy of local transport workers, as well as a dubious victory in the auction in Nizhnevartovsk. However, today the proceedings around, as it turned out, a painful topic for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug are not over. Ahead of the main participants in the process, from Domtransavto to the administration of Nizhnevartovsk, there are at least several more stages ahead – the decision of the regional OFAS and the court. However, as the company assures, long-term battles could not affect the first results of transport reform. According to experts, in the first six months the rate of completed flights in Nizhnevartovsk reached 99% for the first time, and traffic intervals were reduced from 30 to 14 minutes. The general director of Domtransavto LLC, Evgeniy Starshinov, spoke about the shortage of personnel and the attraction of specialists from competing organizations, about the technical condition of the transport transferred by the authorities of the city and region, as well as his participation in the conflict in an interview with Pravda UrFO.
“Pravda UrFO”: The implementation of transport reform in Ugra provoked many conflicts. How did this affect the work of Domtransavto as a carrier?
General Director of Domtransavto Evgeniy Starshinov: Domtransavto is not a party to any conflict. Since 2015, the company has been operating in the bus transportation market. In 2022, it became one of the participants in a major transport reform in St. Petersburg, and by 2023 it took first place among commercial carriers in terms of the volume of transport work performed in this city. Based on this experience, we, on a general basis, took part in the tender that was announced at the start of the reform in Nizhnevartovsk, and won it.
Administration of Nizhnevartovsk“Pravda UrFO”: One of the main concerns of the public is the increase in unemployment due to the loss of contracts by local carriers. In your opinion, was it justified?
Evgeny Starshinov: The company has no goal of leaving the existing team of transport workers without work. On the contrary, we actively invite drivers and offer better conditions for everyone, including employees of local transport companies whose transport work has been reduced. Statements by individual carriers that we are depriving people of work are false. Our personnel policy is aimed at preserving the existing established team of transport workers, and many of them have already come to us from other carriers with a salary increase of more than 20%. In addition, we offer a stable income, official employment, a social package, uniforms, official transport, and the ability to choose a work schedule.
“Pravda UrFO”: So you are actively attracting personnel from groups that have long been formed in the Nizhnevartovsk market?
Evgeny Starshinov: With the beginning of the transport reform, our main task was to resolve the personnel issue. The driver shortage problem is common to all bus fleets. The profession is aging, young people are reluctant to join, and in modern reality, physical labor is not popular. The shortage of drivers has to be filled by attracting drivers from other regions, but this is also a necessary measure for the company.
Today we are conducting an active recruiting campaign. It’s not just about drivers. We are interested in staffing the engineering and technical staff. At the moment, our driver team is fully staffed, which significantly exceeds the indicators of other regions. We realize that the passenger’s image of the “ideal” driver is formed from the idea that this should be their fellow countryman, an experienced driver who knows his city and passengers by sight. Domtransavto strives to meet these expectations, but this will take some time.
“Pravda UrFO”: Another topic that is actively discussed is the condition of the transport transferred to the company. The buses did not meet the technical specifications. The AvtoMAZ company promised to retrofit the buses by the end of September. At what stage is this work?
Evgeny Starshinov: All vehicles produced on the line comply with the requirements of the state contract for passenger transportation and undergo daily pre-trip technical inspection. All buses leave with a full set of permits. According to information from the administration of Nizhnevartovsk, the AvtoMAZ company, within the framework of its warranty obligations, carries out repair work on air conditioning systems. Only vehicles with working air conditioners are allowed to leave.
“Pravda UrFO”: Your company has been operating in Nizhnevartovsk for six months. What did a particular consumer get from your services?
Evgeny Starshinov: The most important and important indicator of improving the level of service is an increase in passenger traffic by 25% compared to the same period in 2023. That is, Vartov residents began to use public transport more often, buses became more comfortable and modern. The city is changing and the route network has also changed. The number of buses has increased and service intervals have decreased. At the same time, the approach to assessing transport performance has also changed. Now strict adherence to the schedule is of paramount importance, with penalties for the carrier for a minute deviation from the schedule.
If earlier the performance of flights in Nizhnevartovsk ranged from 75% to 83%, now we show a result of 99-99.5%. This indicates high quality standards in passenger transportation. This became possible, among other things, thanks to the availability of reserve rolling stock. We try to produce from 10 to 15 reserve vehicles daily to cover all kinds of unforeseen situations on the road without risking the schedule.
In addition, navigation dispatchers monitor the drivers’ performance online. When deviating from the route, stopping in the wrong place or passing a stop, the driver’s actions are promptly corrected. Dispatchers can also manage the movement of drivers in traffic jams to maintain the stated intervals on the route.
“Pravda UrFO”: How are things going with the use of digital technologies?
Evgeny Starshinov: The bus fare system has changed. Our partner in the implementation of transport reform was the company Sbertroika, a ticket system operator that is introducing advanced digital solutions for paying for travel on public transport throughout the country. More than 78% of all trips in the city are paid for by non-cash payment, which made it possible to introduce a checkless payment system. This not only simplifies the payment process, but also saves hundreds of kilograms of paper every year and reduces wood consumption. In Nizhnevartovsk, the process of obtaining a travel card has become simpler: it can now be issued online by linking the card through the Sberbank application. There are more resources for tracking bus movements. This can be done on three platforms – Smart Transport, Yandex and 2GIS.
