Hey, visitor, drive by – Newspaper Kommersant No. 3 (7448) dated 01/11/2023

About 735,000 cars drove along the Moscow High-Speed ​​Diameter (MSD) in the first week of operation of the highway in a paid mode, follows from the data of the metropolitan deptrans. More than 99% of the traffic is made up of vehicles of Muscovites and residents of the region – travel is free for them. Only owners of transit vehicles from the regions should pay. Most of the guests of the capital, recorded by cameras on the MSD, come from the Ryazan, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula regions and St. Petersburg.

The statistics of the work of the MSD “Kommersant” was provided by the Moscow Department of Transport. This road, we recall, has become paid for transit transport since January 2: 950 rubles. for each trip, regardless of the category of the car. Owners of cars with capital and suburban numbers do not pay for trips. However, if the car spent more than a day within the borders of the Central Ring Road, and at least two hours passed between entering the MSD and leaving it, no fee is charged from visitors (such trips are not considered transit). There are no barriers and payment points at MSD: traffic is controlled by cameras, with their help car owners are billed.

Let us remind you that the MSD combines the North-Eastern (traffic without traffic lights, the permitted speed is 60–90 km/h) and the South-Eastern chords, which are already open for traffic (these sections were previously known to Moscow drivers under such names). The last city hall is going to be completed and opened to traffic in 2023. In the same year, the MSD will be connected to the M-12 Vostok toll highway in the Nekrasovka area. After the full launch of all sections of the diameter, 400 thousand cars a day will follow it, they are waiting in the deptrans. At the same time, according to the estimates of the Moscow Mayor’s Office, certain sections of the Garden Ring, the Moscow Ring Road and the Third Ring Road will be relieved by 30%.

In the first week of January (January 2–9), 105,000 vehicles passed through MRR daily, or about 735,000 vehicles per week. “The number of cars on New Year’s holidays is always significantly less than on ordinary working days,” explained “Kommersant” in the Moscow department of transport. “In 2022, an average of 260 thousand cars passed through the main section of the MSD daily, 76% of vehicles were cars from Moscow residents” .

Only 0.25% of the total weekly traffic on MSD is transit cars (240 vehicles), with 91% of them being cars, 8% trucks, 1% buses. The most popular diameter turned out to be among vehicle owners from the Ryazan, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula regions and St. Petersburg.

The exact number of those who paid the fare and debtors is still unknown. The deptrans reminded that after five days after the trip, if the driver has not paid, a fine of 1.5 thousand rubles is formed. for cars and 5 thousand rubles for buses. The decision is made by Rostransnadzor on the basis of deptrans data from 121 cameras installed on the MSD. If the fare debt is repaid within the next 20 days, the fine will be cancelled. Thus, the first debtors will be known no earlier than January 22.

The amount that the owners of transit cars will have to pay for the first week of trips along the MSD will be 228 thousand rubles, Kommersant calculated based on data from the deptrans. The authorities offer to track payments on the website msd.mos.ru or in the Parking of Russia application. Contactless transponders at the MSD also work, they say in the deptrans. Trucks are prohibited from entering the MSD without a pass, a fine of 5 thousand rubles.

Transit on MSD will increase, but the majority of visitors will still prefer to go through the Central Ring Road, predicts Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the Za Rulem magazine. This way, he recalls, is cheaper: for a passenger car, the tariff for the Central Ring Road is 624 rubles. from Egoryevskoye Highway to M-11 and 565 rubles from M-7 to M-11. “It makes no sense to trudge to Moscow, especially for those who travel from Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod,” the expert explains. “On the same M-7, you can still get stuck in a traffic jam, there is also a risk of getting into a small traffic jam on the MSD.” Mr. Kadakov is confident that the authorities will continue to introduce fees on other intracity roads (so far this has only been practiced on intercity highways), and not only in Moscow, but also in other cities. “Motorists, obviously, are actively preparing for this,” the expert believes.

Ivan Buranov