Page 45 - O Οργανισμός Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Θεσσαλονίκης από το 1957 μέχρι σήμερα | The Organisation of Urban Transportation of Thessaloniki from 1957 to the present day

Chapter 1
The legislaTive framewOrK
from 1957 to 2010
Law 3721/ 1957 was of great significance, as it established for the first time, a solid framework on which Thessaloniki’s urban transport would henceforth be structured, putting an end to the competition between the two modes of transport that had ex-
isted until then. Τhe Organisation of Urban Transportation of Thessaloniki, the result of this legislative regulation, would now be the undisputed and sole provider of urban trans- port in the largest city of Northern Greece. It was a legal entity under private law based in
Thessaloniki. OASTH’s work would last until December 31, 1981, after which date its assets would automatically pass to the Greek State.
As a private non-profit organisation, OASTH consisted of shareholders, who were basically former private motorists who owned private city buses until 1957. According to the law, these owners could, if they wished, join the new organisation as shareholders by paying a sum of money and placing their buses at the service of the newly established organisation. In the opposite case, they would be compensated financially and receive shares in OASTH. If a single person owned a bus, they would receive one whole share; however, in the case of joint ownership of a bus, each co-owner would receive a fraction of a share. The number of shares (and therefore of shareholders) was dependent on the number of buses. Drivers who did not join the Organisation would automatically lose their professional licence, so they would not be able to operate transport services on their own.
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