Abstract (english) | At the beginning of the 20th century, a demographic and urban expansion which began to a lesser extent in the 1890s, took place in Pula. In 1880 the city was home to about twenty-five thousand people, and thirty years later to approximately sixty thousand people. As the main war port of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, with the construction of the Arsenal, new city quarters were created. Electricity, water supply and sewerage are introduced. Workers' houses, luxury villas and hotels are being built. Pula is experiencing a renaissance. Public transport is being introduced in the population and urban expansion of the city. After the First World War, Pula became part of Italy. In the period between the First and Second World War, depopulation and economic crisis under fascist rule ensued. The gradual development of tourism and industry after the Second World War, brought the city its second renaissance. Industry is failing, and Istria and Pula were among the poorest provinces in Italy. By not investing in public transport, city trams have been replaced by private company buses. A large part of the city was destroyed during the bombing in World War II. Thus, public transport was reduced to the maximum. With the gradual development of tourism and industry after the Second World War, the city experienced its second renaissance. Pula is becoming an industrial and tourist center. With the Renaissance, public transport gradually expanded. Along city lines, profitable and non-profitable line lines are expanding, depending on industry and tourism.With the onset of the economic crisis in the 1980s, there was a gradual decline that continued its trend in the early 1990s. High inflation has affected all segments of life. The number of passengers in public transport was halved. This consequence remained visible until the end of the century. The introduction of tram transport in 1904 was a consequence of accelerated urbanisation and modernisation in the context of complex economic and military interests of the Imperial-Royal Navy as well as the national demands of Italian local authorities, but also the prestige of major European cities. The accelerated development of Pula as the main war port, accelerated urban and infrastructural processes. Public transportation was one of those elements. During 1904, the first two lines were built connecting the railway station with the southern part of the city. The first line went along the city port, and the second through the city center. During 1909, a third line was built connecting the town with the Šijani Forest, northeast of the town. The Šijana forest was administered by the navy and was the main picnic spot for the population over the weekend. Until the First World War, there were ideas about building new tram lines, but they were never built. The need to connect other city districts with the center, ie bathing areas and beaches, was not in the interest of the navy and the city authorities. There were plans to connect the city center with the Veruda district in the southern part of the city. Completely planned, but never realized, was a line to the neighborhood around the city hospital, east of downtown. The plan also included the construction of suburban lines to the place of Fažana east of the city and to the city of Vodnjan north of Pula. Due to the economic crises and the coming World War I, they were never realized. It was only in the 1930s that all the former plans were realized with the introduction of buses. Tram transport, in addition to the needs of citizens, also served the needs of the navy. During the First World War, tram infrastructure became part of the fortress's supply system. During the war, it was the main artery of the military railway network. Thus, the tram unknowingly became part of military history. The city authorities saw a way to spread the Italian language through tram transport. Thus, the Croatian and German languages were suppressed. There were also not infrequent conflicts with the Croatian population in everyday life. Members of the navy found a compromise with the city authorities because of common interests. Due to that, the issue of the German language did not come to the fore. Trams often transported animals for the needs of the navy and the inhabitants, and coal for the needs of the power plant. Thus, the tram became part of political and economic history. The primary role of tram transport was certainly satisfied. The statistics of transported passengers show that the tram was a real need of the citizens. During the First World War there was an exodus of the population. thus bringing passenger transport into the background. After the First World War, no investment was made in tram infrastructure at all. The number of passengers and regularity of lines decreased. During the 1930s, thought began to be given to improving public transportation. There were several options: complete restoration of tram transport and expansion of lines, ie replacement by buses or trolleybuses. The third idea was the introduction of combined tram and bus transport. Through thirty years of its operation, the tram has become a symbol of the city. The desire to continue the tram traffic was one thing, and the needs in the city were quite another. Due to the economic crisis, the policy of propagating the automobile industry and the impossibility of its reconstruction, the tram was replaced by bus transport in 1934. The introduction of bus transport has led to the expansion and opening of new lines. Thus, from the very beginning, the introduction of a new mode of transport showed advantages. Some of the city’s new neighborhoods were connected to the center, and during the summer, seasonal lines drove citizens to beaches and beaches. In this way, most of the needs of the citizens were met. In addition to city lines, suburban lines have also been established. Thus the surrounding settlements were connected with the city. These were usually circular lines that ran several times a day. Until the end of the Second World War, bus transport functioned continuously. The bombing of the city during 1944 broke that continuity. The streets were impassable and the vehicle fleet was partially out of order. Although transportation functioned minimally, with interruptions, regular traffic began eight years later. During the Italian and Yugoslav rule, regardless of socio-political and economic crises, bus transport, with the expansion of lines with the development of tourism and industry and the expansion of the city, functioned continuously. The destroyed city and destroyed infrastructure also affected the functioning of public transport. Its revitalization began in the early 1950s. The primary goal was to establish lines for workers and students. This was especially true in suburban areas. On the other hand, it was important to establish seasonal lines primarily for city residents. With the construction of tourist infrastructure, in the summer months, public transport was increasingly used by domestic and foreign tourists. During the second half of the twentieth century public transport played a major role in the development of industry and tourism. It was a mutual benefit. The number of lines for tourism workers and tourists has doubled. The number of lines expanded, the number of passengers and vehicles increased. Seasonal city and suburban lines covered the losses of unprofitable suburban lines. One of the problems was the insufficient and dilapidated number of buses, which hardly followed the growth of industry and tourism. Despite poor political decisions and economic crises, the summer season saved public transportation throughout the year. A poor political decision in the early 1970s brought public transport close to ruin. The decision to integrate public transport companies with other transport companies in Pula has led to a gradual drop in the number of passengers by fifty percent. Integration was a common occurrence in Yugoslavia, with stronger companies helping the weaker ones. In 1972, the Pula-based public transport company entered into integration as the richest company with three other transport companies. For more than a decade, it has covered the losses of other companies. After the completion of integration in 1984, public transport was on the verge of collapse, and the consequences were felt until the end of the century. The inflation crisis had a particularly negative impact. The constant increase in the price of services reduced the number of passengers, which affected the quality of service. At the same time, more and more citizens began to buy cars. The comfort of driving a car was more acceptable to the citizens, although it was more expensive. All this had a financially negative impact on public transport, and on the other hand created traffic jams on the streets. This trend has continued to this day. Everyday life in public transport, unlike economic and political changes, has largely not changed throughout the century. Worker status, strikes, unions, passenger-employee relations, occurred continuously. The key difference is visible only in the status of workers before and after World War II. In the first half of the century, workers' rights were not respected, dismissals were frequent, and as a result, frequent strikes. Wages and working conditions did not keep pace with inflation, and workers mostly fed large families. In the period of socialist Yugoslavia, workers were more protected. Wages and working conditions were getting better from decade to decade, and workers’ jobs were secure. Everyday life in trams and buses throughout the century was almost identical. Illustrative descriptions of the quarrels between drivers and conductors and passengers were almost identical, as evidenced by numerous newspaper articles. The problems of overloaded vehicles, passenger grievances, unculture of workers or passengers, were identical. This is proven by news in newspapers throughout the century. However, accidents when getting in and out of vehicles, passing passers-by and colliding with other vehicles were common, mainly in the first two decades of the twentieth century. The rapid development of the city and the unaccustomedness of the newly arrived population of the village to the city were the main cause. However, the rapid development of the city was difficult for the inhabitants who lived in it for years to adapt. In the second half of the twentieth century, such accidents were almost unrecorded. The history of public transport dates back to 1990, taking into account the time lag and continuity that has functioned for the last three decades without major changes. The introduction of tram transport at the beginning of the last century was a consequence of the growth of the city. Being the main war port of the Monarchy, Pula experienced an urban, population and demographic renaissance. Tram transport experienced its rise until the beginning of the First World War, after which it experienced a gradual decadence until its abolition in the mid-1930s. Bus transport has replaced tram transport that functions to this day. From the 1930s to the end of the century, it experienced economic and political ups and downs. The research reconstructed and analyzed the impact of public transport on political and economic conditions, on social and economic development and the functioning of the city. This complemented the knowledge of one segment of local urban history that in its own way influenced local politics and the pace of everyday life. |