Penza, 1 May 2015. PenzaNews. The dacha season in Penza officially started on May 1, Spring and Labor Day.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

According to official information, the dacha owners will be able to use 24 route split along four city belts.

The dacha owners began congregating at the departure points – Penza-1 train station, and bus stops “Dizelny Zavod,” “Gidrostroy,” “Salyut” and “Okean,” – from the early morning.

Those who gathered at the “Salyut” bus stop met an unpleasant surprise: the departure stops for the buses were changed, and people were not timely informed.

This caused excitement among the people with garden instruments and large bags who struggled to find the bus and roamed along the stop, some eventually getting late for their bus.

Moreover, the people were outraged over the misleading points of the timetable as shown on the bus plaques, and the newly introduced transportation cards.

“This is bad, because I go to the dacha once a week. Come on, how is that cheap? Why does a bus ticket to Ramzay kost 40 rubles, and we should pay 73? Who made up these prices? I’d understand if these were for two, but me... I won’t be getting such a harvest any time,” one of the elderly women pointed out.

According to some garden owners, this year’s dacha season opening was marked with much less people on the bus stops, which many people say is due to the new transportation cards and increased bus fares.

“I know many of my neighbors decided it’s better to ditch the dachas and buy Israeli foods. And why not? I’d buy anything I want for five thousand,” one of the women said.

The aforementioned dacha owner also added she was afraid of a possible lack of natural and cheap local foods on the market in 2015, which will inevitably cause the prices to rise.

The dacha owners standing at the bus stops also expressed their outrage over the officials’ work to inform people of new changes in season’s transportation system, which many called insufficient.

“Nobody says anything. We have a bus that should arrive at 9.10 am, and he didn’t. That’s it. This is unacceptable. We have to wait here like some fools. Here is a timetable, there is a timetable, but no bus in sight,” angrily mentioned one of the passengers, pointing at the stops.

Moreover, the Penza garden owners said they were worried they could lose money spent on transportation cards if they fail to use them before the season runs out, many asking the reasons behind such a scheme and its possible use to siphon money out of citizens’ wallets.