Kyiv is home to one of the most extensive networks of trolleybuses in the world. Built initially in the 1930s, the trolleybus system – where buses draw power from overhead cables – snakes through the Ukrainian capital alongside trams, a metro and the now ubiquitous private minibuses.
But while the trolleybuses are affordable, if perhaps slow, they’re also risky – and in Kyiv, a site of struggle. Official figures suggest that worn tires cause regular accidents: the explosion of a tire can risk injury, whether via the tire itself or via collision. The risk increases especially in the Ukrainian winter’s icy conditions - yet the management of trolleybus depots often forces drivers to use faulty vehicles, activists claim.
Trolleybus drivers can face criminal responsibility for accidents, as they have no right to drive with worn tires. According to the Kyivpastrans utility company, 128 trolleybus drivers in Kyiv have been prosecuted for road accidents since the beginning of 2021. In total, over the past five years, more than 3,000 public transport accidents have occurred in Kyiv. Almost half of them involved trolleybuses.
