  We show the effectiveness of using the procedure of the potential
reconstruction (the V-method) in the estimation of the transition redshift
corresponding to switch from deceleration to acceleration phase of the
Universe. We investigate the FRW models with dark energy by applying the
particle-like description of their dynamics. In this picture the evolution of
the universe is represented by motion of a fictitious particle in the
one-dimensional potential $V(a)$ or V(z)$ where $a$ is the scale factor and $z$
is the redshift. The V-method solves the inverse problem where we reconstruct
the potential function from empirical data. We use the Riess et al.'s gold and
gold+silver samples of SN Ia data in this reconstruction. In the same framework
we obtain both the estimates of the form of the equation of state for dark
energy and the transition redshift. We obtain that transition redshift is
$0.38_{-0.07}^{+0.10}$ (gold subset) and $0.37_{-0.07}^{+0.06}$ (gold+silver
sample) when the linear model of dark energy ($w(z)=w_{0} + w_{1}z$) and
$\Omega_{m,0}=0.3$ are assumed. We compare the estimation of transition
redshift with the Riess et al. results. The V-method also alows us to find the
value of Hubble function at the moment of transition.
