To be afraid or not
The ministry’s terms of reference for the development of so-called methodological recommendations argue that it is possible to ease road burdens and shorten parking times primarily through economic levers. A flexible rate scale could help manage traffic in bustling city centers while also bolstering city budgets.
For buses, the Ministry of Transport suggests leasing lines to align with legal limits on the number of parking spaces. It will soon be possible to introduce a parking fee if the occupancy of allocated spots exceeds 85 percent. This approach would extend paid parking beyond major cities into nearby neighborhood centers.
Although these guidelines are recommendations rather than mandatory rules, many large cities where paid parking is not yet established, or is in its early stages, have embraced the concept. Administering paid parking is considered a potentially attractive source of revenue for budgets.
To be afraid or not
Over the past four months the writer has covered 30,000 kilometers across Russia, visiting numerous cities of varied size. There are places with paid parking already in place, driven by the demand for parking space that local authorities say is hard to satisfy.
The writer has often found free spaces nearby, and in many situations a complete ban on street parking would require massive investment in signs, markings, curbs, barriers, and parking lots to force drivers into paid spaces.
Local authorities would face a daunting bill to build out the infrastructure needed to channel parking into a paid system across every street.
Bus and taxi
Encouraging people to abandon private cars in favor of public transport sounds appealing in theory. In practice, public transport elsewhere falls short in many regions where bus intervals are irregular and not measured in minutes but by hours. A taxi remains faster and more comfortable, albeit more expensive than a bus, offering a practical alternative for reaching destinations quickly.
In smaller towns, public transport services may cease after a certain time. Running late buses at night to serve partygoers becomes financially unsustainable for local budgets.
In forty percent of regions there are fewer than 100 buses per 100,000 residents. Reports indicate that by 2022 in Russia the number of public transport lines declined by four percent, the number of buses by seven percent, and the average interval between services in the eighty-four largest cities rose from sixteen to nineteen minutes.
Official estimates suggest more than one trillion rubles would be needed to upgrade public transport in Russia’s twenty-five major cities, and the country is far larger than those cities alone.
Why now?
If the driving force behind these plans is not simply to enrich car owners but to advance environmental goals, reduce exhaust emissions, and improve traffic organization, several questions arise. There is a lingering suspicion that budget replenishment is a major motive in many cities. Some authorities appear ready to adopt a new framework, implying that car ownership comes with a steady revenue stream.
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