Page 109 - O Οργανισμός Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Θεσσαλονίκης από το 1957 μέχρι σήμερα | The Organisation of Urban Transportation of Thessaloniki from 1957 to the present day

Chapter 4
innOvaTiOn and sOcial respOnsiBiliTy
The modern face of OasTh
O ASTH has continuously strived to keep up with the requirements of each era, aiming for progress and better services, innovating at a national level. The employment of wom- en in key positions within the organisation has been significant since its early years.
As early as 1960, women were working as ticket collectors on buses for the first time in Greece. The first female driver at OASTH was hired in 1976, while the first female member of the Board
of Directors was elected in 1987.
OASTH had kept up with technological advances from the outset, equipping its offices
with computers, while by the late 1970s, special 12-route ticket machines were already in operation on some lines. As part of the abolition of ticket collectors, cameras were installed on the doors to monitor passenger movement by the driver. Special ticket validation machines were installed for the pre-printed tickets that had began to circulate at that time, and special ticket machines were also installed inside the buses. These machines were also installed at major transfer stations.
OASTH was also a pioneer in providing information to passengers, having acquired a telematics system as early as 2003. Based on this, passengers on the bus were informed of the next stop by audio announcements, while a similar information system was installed at bus stops. At the same time, passengers can get information via the OASTH website (and later the OSETH website) or by calling the organisation’s call centre free of charge.
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