As is widely recognized, an enhanced public transportation system plays a pivotal role not only in alleviating road congestion but also in providing secure and efficient passenger mobility while mitigating the environmental impact.
Nevertheless, the extensive reliance on public transportation by the residents of Tashkent, the capital city, has underscored the pressing need for further development in this sector. Currently, Tashkent's population stands at 5 mn (2.9 mn permanent residents, 1.5 mn daily commuters, and 0.5 mn temporary residents), with an annual population growth of approximately 100,000 individuals. The city is home to 760,000 motor vehicles, with an annual increase of 76,000, while the main road network and streets are designed for constant vehicle movement over 470 kilometers, intended for 380,000 to 400,000 vehicles.
However, the daily influx of vehicles into the city ranges from 160,000 to 220,000, and during the day, nearly 900,000 vehicles circulate throughout the city's roads. This leads to a situation where the number of vehicles in motion exceeds the road network's simultaneous capacity by a factor of two.
Only 25% of traffic, approximately 1.5 mn vehicles, is managed by buses, the subway, and minibusses, while the remaining 4.5 mn rely on 900,000 vehicles operating within the city throughout the day.
The absence of an efficient traffic management system, coupled with the reduction of driving speeds in perpetual traffic jams to 7 km/h, has increased travel times for the population, nearly doubling them compared to three to four years earlier. This situation also results in excessive fuel consumption and the emission of harmful gases by slowly moving vehicles, contributing to economic losses.
The foremost objective is to ensure the population's needs for comprehensive, high-quality, and safe public transportation within the city. These issues prompted systematic reforms, performance targets, and reform execution mechanisms that were approved in 2022 by Presidential Decree No. PQ-111 and in 2023 by Presidential Decree No. PQ-59.
In pursuit of these objectives, significant public transportation reform projects have been undertaken in recent years. In 2022, the city of Tashkent acquired 200 saz Le 60 medium-capacity buses and 190 man high-capacity buses, along with 20 modern electric buses, a first for the city.
This year, within the framework of comprehensive public transportation renewal projects, an additional 1,000 buses were procured, including 500 Youtong high-capacity buses and 200 kinglong extra-large capacity buses running on methane gas, along with 302 Youtong electric buses.
These buses have been allocated to modern routes categorized based on "scientifically grounded" techniques and technologies, including main, circular, connecting, and feeder routes. As a result of these renovation projects and procurements, the current public transportation fleet consists of 1,959 units (an increase from 1,485 units in 2022), with an average vehicle age of 3.5 years (down from 7.5 years in 2022). The utilization rate of public transportation stands at 24% (compared to 19% in 2022), while the new route network comprises 167144 routes (compared to 2022), resulting in a reduction in public transportation intermediate intervals from 18-20 minutes to 8-10 minutes.
In recent years, the crowded nature of public transportation during rush hours has led to nearly half a million elderly passengers, mainly from social strata who lack the capacity to use the service due to overcrowding, resorting to high-quality bus services.
For reference, the plan for 2030 is to increase the public transportation fleet to 2,247 units, lower the average vehicle age to 2.6 years, increase public transportation usage to 40%, add 178 new route networks, raise the number of trips to 27,412, and, as a result, reduce travel intervals to 5-8 minutes. Presently, 1,020 or 52% of buses run on compressed natural gas, 322 or 16.6% on electricity, and 617 or 31.4% on diesel fuel.
To enhance the appeal of public transportation and ensure regular and uninterrupted bus services in 2023, Tashkent is poised to establish 186.6 kilometers of bus-exclusive lanes, with a total length of 48.2 kilometers (Amir Temur Street - 10.4 kilometers, Ahmad Donish - 8.5 kilometers, Navoi, Beruni - 6.2 kilometers, Mirzo Ulugbek, Feruz, Yuzrabat, Makhtumkuli - 23 kilometers), along with separate corridors.
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