Kyiv is changing how it organizes transport operations because of prolonged air raid alerts, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
"Air raid alerts have paralyzed the work of businesses, paralyzed transport, and the city as a whole is in a state of collapse. We need to find solutions under these new conditions so the city can keep living and working," Klitschko told Suspilne.
Due to restrictions on metro operations, the city is stepping up surface transport, with 140 buses redirected from other routes to duplicate metro lines, according to Klitschko.
"We’re throwing all our transport resources into this right now, to reduce the load on the metro," he said.
At the same time, Klitschko acknowledged that fully replacing the metro with buses is difficult.
"In the near future, we’ll be able to keep our bridges open even during air raid alerts. These are key transport arteries," Klitschko said.
He added that the city, together with the military, is working on changes to current security protocols, with final decisions on such changes needing to be approved at the state level. Kyiv had previously said it intended to review the procedure for bridge traffic during alerts.
Klitschko also said the city is looking for ways to further strengthen transport links between the right and left banks and between the metro’s "red" and "green" lines.
