Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from SIMETRA, a competence center in the field of transport planning, will act as supervisors for the urban public transport development project in the Tashkent agglomeration. Within the framework of cooperation, a transport model will be created and measures will be developed to improve the existing system of movement.

Now in Tashkent, passengers are served only by metro and buses, and the role of commuter trains is insignificant. There is a large shortage of rolling stock. The administration plans to increase the mobility of citizens, radically upgrade the transport fleet, and bring several hundred electric buses to the streets.

The goal of the project is to develop the transport system of the agglomeration more efficiently, based on scientific research and accurate calculations. The customer of the work is the project office for the integrated development of the transport system of the city of Tashkent, the project is being developed under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport and the Khokimiyat of the city of Tashkent.

The local team of transport engineers will be reinforced by Christian Bettger, Head of the Transport Modeling Working Group, Deputy Chairman of the Association of Transport Engineers and International Sales Director of SIMETRA, as well as co-author of methodological and training manuals in the field of urban and suburban transportation, Director of Public Transport Solutions of SIMETRA Vladimir Valdin.

“Our task is to transfer expertise and competencies to colleagues from Tashkent so that local engineers can independently apply the experience gained in the future, working with the transport systems of cities in Uzbekistan. This international cooperation will bring transport planning and modeling in the country to a qualitatively new level,” stressed Christian Bettger.

Under the guidance of invited experts, a team of local specialists has already carried out a number of surveys and measurements of traffic intensity and passenger traffic and is preparing to conduct the second stage of a large-scale study, including a social survey of residents of the agglomeration.

“Now the city has a slightly modified archaic Soviet system based on a one-time fee. The administration plans to move away from the traditional approach of “transportation as a service” to the concept of “transport as the basis of urban mobility”, and starting from the end of this year, begin a phased transition of surface public transport to gross contracts, as the most transparent system for forming a transport task. Now we are performing the preparatory stage and analysis, working out all the necessary documentation, developing regulations, negotiating with carriers,” explained Vladimir Valdin.

Close cooperation and exchange of technologies and best practices between the SIMETRA team and the Department of Transport of Tashkent began in 2020. SIMETRA equipped the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Tashkent Institute for the Design, Construction and Operation of Highways (TADI) with the PTV software package, and provided training on working with software for specialized specialists. The software was used to develop a transport master plan for Tashkent, study transport and logistics problems, and plan the development of regions and cities in Uzbekistan.

“The experience and expertise of the involved supervisors from SIMETRA will allow us to develop the most effective measures to improve the mobility of citizens, calculate the transport effect of the planned actions, justify the new route network and the planned costs of reforming the land transport system, and reasonably apply for funding from the city and the state in order to maximize efficient use of budgetary funds,” emphasized Murod Abidov, Director of the Project Office.