Almost 446 advertisement facilities were removed from motorways and their vicinity. The outdoor advertisement providers removed 400 of them either following a call of the Road Administration Authority or based on their own will. About 500 advertisement facilities were then removed by the staff of the individual Motorway Administration and Maintenance centres. Only around motorways 900 illegal billboards are still to be removed.
Since January, the Emission Measurement Stations are obliged to document the presence of vehicles in inspections. The same applies to Technical Inspection Stations. During the first quarter, over three million photographs were taken during 563 669 inspections. To increase convenience for drivers when searching the closest station, the ministry published an easy-to-read map of all Emission Measurement Stations, Technical Inspection Stations and Municipal Departments with Extended Powers on its website.
The Central Bohemian, South Bohemian and Pilsen regions will receive most of the special state subsidy amounting to CZK 4 billion and designated for regional roads. We can see this in the calculation of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure that, again, proposes splitting the money based on the length of category II and III roads in the individual regions. What is new is that the allocation of the money is pre-conditioned by the removal of illegal billboards from the land owned by the regions. Both the government and the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure Committee will still have to approve this proposal.
Until 2021 drivers in the Czech Republic will be able to use up to two dozens of new compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations for their passenger cars as well as trucks. Their construction will be supported by the Ministry of Transport from European funds. Up to CZK 50 million for the support of the alternative fuel infrastructure can arrive from the Operational Programme Transport.
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.