Moscow and the Moscow region have achieved a bus lane on the M-7 federal highway

The capital and Moscow region authorities persuaded Rosavtodor to organize a dedicated lane for public transport on the M-7 federal highway. As an experiment, it will start operating at the end of the month and will operate at least until the end of March. Federal road workers previously warned that such a scheme could lead to congestion, since the road was not originally designed for dedicated roads. But Moscow and the region insist that the strip will allow carrying 70 thousand passengers.

Moscow Region Ministry of Transport reported on work to develop dedicated lanes for public transport on M-7 (they will appear on both sides of the highway). The length of the “dedicated roads” will be 15 km; they will run from Balashikha to the intersection with Transportnaya Street (1.2 km from the Moscow Ring Road). The lanes will be put into operation on December 25, the regional Ministry of Transport told Kommersant.

Let us remember that separate bus lanes exist in many Russian cities; most of them are in Moscow. The idea of ​​“dedicated lanes” on the federal roads M-7, M-8 and M-5 has been discussed for several years. The authorities of Moscow and the region required space for buses to improve the operation of interregional routes. But Rosavtodor, told Kommersant in May, each time he pointed out the risks: since federal highways were not designed with dedicated lanes, a change in traffic organization could lead to congestion and even “social tension.” The road workers also reminded that the function of the “federals” is to connect Moscow with the capitals of the regions and neighboring states, and not to ensure the operation of public transport.

Despite all these arguments, officials in Moscow and the Moscow region managed to persuade Rosavtodor to experiment.

Moscow region authorities said that such a lane would reduce travel time for more than 70 thousand passengers – due to the fact that buses would not be stuck in traffic jams.

“The decision was made due to the difficult transport situation for public transport. The travel time along the section of the highway towards Moscow during rush hours now increases from 18 to 50 minutes,” the regional Ministry of Transport told Kommersant. “The effectiveness of the experiment will be assessed based on the results of three months. Work will be carried out based on weather conditions. “In particular, marking will be applied in dry weather; technology will not be disrupted.”

The Moscow Department of Transport told Kommersant that they participated in the development and discussion of the project. “We will carefully monitor and analyze the road transport situation,” they said. “According to analysts’ forecasts, thanks to the introduction of a dedicated lane, the travel time of surface urban transport will decrease by almost half, during the morning peak – by 2.5 times.”

Rosavtodor, responding to a request from Kommersant, once again recalled that the project was “initiated” by Moscow and the region: “We can talk about effectiveness after its implementation. The work will be carried out in accordance with regulatory requirements and the developed project. All necessary technical means for applying markings in winter conditions are available. Preparatory work is currently underway.” According to Rosavtodor, the maximum traffic intensity on this section of the M-7 is more than 6 thousand cars per hour. “On sections of other federal highways, projects to organize dedicated lanes for public transport are not currently being developed,” the department added.

“Everything is already bad in this direction, but it will get worse,” says Petr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets movement. “That is, traffic jams will increase. The only thing that can be assumed is that it will become slightly worse: taxis, of which there are now many on the M-7, will free up space in the general flow and will move along the “dedicated lane.” It is unknown how entry into the lane will be technically controlled, but the fine, let us remind you, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses, is 1.5 thousand rubles.

Ivan Buranov