marshrutka lines in Sofia alone; the lines being operated by separate private companies. About 10 lines operate in Plovdiv. Romania In Romania, microbuze or maxi-taxi supplied the need of affordable public transportation in smaller towns when some local administrations abolished the expensive community-owned systems of buses. In Bucharest, this form of transportation appeared in the early 1980s, when the ITB began using them as a peak-hour service, beginning to use Irannational-made Mercedes-Benz T2 vans, being supplemented in the late 1980s by Rocar-TV vans. In 1990, the newly founded RATB sold off its operations to private operators, who began using them in competition to the RATB. They enjoyed wide popularity, especially from 2003 to 2007, and from 2011 onwards, when the RATB lost the rights to operate suburban routes. On the Black Sea shore, it is very common to travel from Constanţa or Mangalia to the resorts on minibuses (microbuze), especially in those resorts where the competing train service is far from the beach and/or lodging facilities. These minibuses have been criticised for their shady operations, lack of safety and primitive transportation conditions. Asia-Pacific Similar systems can be found in South East Asia, like the Philippines with minibuses called jeepneys and Thailand with minibuses called songthaew. In India, several cities have minibuses apart from the presence of three-wheeler taxi-cabs called rickshaws. Minibuses are especially popular in the city of Kolkata for intra-city travel but are also present elsewhere. It is also a crucial mode of public transport in the Himalayan region and in the hilly tracts of Northeast India, as other modes of transport are infrequent or absent altogether. Africa Some African countries have a similar system, with minibuses called matatu (Kenya), dala dala (Tanzania) or tro tro (Ghana). See also Share taxi Pesero Dollar van Dolmuş Minibuses in Hong Kong Nanny van Aluguer Hail and ride Songthaew Notes External links Bus Transport database (united photo gallery). Database of bus transport (including marshrutkas) in cities around the world (including the cities of Russia) with an overview of the cities and models of buses. Includes photos of each instance indicating the route number, production year, year starts working on the line and the transport company. Share taxis Road transport in Belarus Road transport in Russia Road transport in Ukraine Road transport in the Soviet Union Types of bus service Public transport