The state will contribute to seniors aged over 65 years, to pupils and students aged 6-26 to their travels on trains and buses with a 75% discount on their fare. The government decided about the new state-ordered discounts, valid from 10 June when the timetables change. Children aged less than six will keep on travelling free of charge and the physically handicapped can continue enjoying their discount.
The Automatic Emergency Call (eCall) system will be officially launched from April 1. From this date on, the manufacturers are obliged to install on-board units of this system in all new passenger car and truck models up to 3.5 tonnes, certified for the European market. Mobile operators were supposed to get ready for the launch of the eCall system by October 2017. The Czech Republic was one of the leaders of the eCall project within the European Union. This system was built to reduce the time between reporting that an accident has happened and the arrival of rescue units on site. This can substantially mitigate the consequences of an accident.
The transport minister Dan Ťok commenced the building season by tapping the base stone of Lubenec bypass on the D6 motorway. The 5km bypass will be created by rebuilding the existing I/6 road into a motorway. The new section will take transit traffic away from the municipality, reduce noise and smog and hence significantly relieve local residents. Work is already under way on ten kilometers of the continuation of the D6 Karlovy Vary motorway. Work is in progress on more than 140 kilometres of motorways and category I roads.
Cleaning the car from snow and ice is the basic prerequisite for safe driving in winter. The removal of dirt, which prevents the driver from seeing well to the front, to the sides and to the back, is also required under the road traffic act. The law amendment which stipulated this obligation came into effect two years ago. The driver is obliged to remove pieces of ice and snow, which might get loose during the drive, from the car before starting driving.
Owners of transportation companies are eagerly awaiting the result of negotiations about a revision of the European directive on sending workers abroad, which the western part of the EU understood as protection of their internal markets. The Czech Republic has the last chance influencing the decision whether the new rules will also apply to the transportation sector. If the transportation sector remains in the directive, then the red tape and wage conditions will ruin Czech hauliers.
The government supported the amendment to act No. 416/2019 coll. on the acceleration of the construction of transport, water and energy infrastructure, initiated by the transport minister and MP Dan Ťok. By accepting the compromise proposal by the MP, on which there is consensus across the political parties, the 13-year cycle, which each infrastructure construction project today goes through, will be shortened.