Parking lots don’t stay

The Road Transport Agency, subordinate to the Ministry of Transport, intends to study parking lots in Russian cities in order to create unified parking space systems and digital registers of parking spaces there. Scientific work is intended to help overcome traffic jams and relieve congestion on the road network, which often has not been modernized since the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century.

As part of the tender for 5.3 million rubles, which is being held by the Road Transport Agency (Rosavtotrans), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport, it is planned to monitor and “analyze the pace” of parking space in cities, develop proposals for an inventory of parking lots and maintaining their digital registers. The contractor will prepare “scientifically based proposals” for the creation and development of unified parking space systems in cities, their management, as well as recommendations for “legal regulation and methodological support” of parking. The results of the work will be used by regional and municipal authorities, as well as road owners, including for approving tariffs for paid parking lots.

The street and road networks of cities have not actually changed since the 70–80s of the 20th century, as stated in the terms of reference for the tender: then they were designed taking into account motorization at the level of 170–180 cars per 1 thousand inhabitants. Now this figure has increased to 250–340 and continues to grow. As a result, according to the materials for the competition, over the past five to seven years, the average speed of traffic in the country has decreased by an average of 40%: in megacities it is 15–30 km/h, in large cities – 20–40 km/h, and during peak hours it drops to 5–10 km/h. “Trends in the growth of traffic volumes do not give comforting forecasts,” the ToR says. “Congestion is becoming a regular and growing phenomenon, which, in the absence of an adequate government response, will lead to a loss of stability in the functioning of the country’s transport system as a whole.” What is needed is an “integrated approach,” writes Rosavtotrans, which includes not only new roads, but also the creation of single parking space systems that will reduce the time spent by vehicles in “problem transport zones.”

The terms of reference list the work previously carried out. In 2022, for example, an analysis of parking in cities has already been undertaken, as a result of which “a number of problems in the organization and management of parking space” were identified. A certain methodology for scoring parking lots was also developed, and proposals were prepared for how to “standardize the number of parking spaces in cities with a population of over 250 thousand people.” What exactly we are talking about is unknown – the Ministry of Transport did not give additional explanations to Kommersant.

“This is, of course, necessary work for the regions,” commented the scientific director of the Scientific Research Institute of Automobile Transport, Vadim Donchenko, on the initiative. “It will allow us to determine the methodological basis for the formation of parking space. Parking policy is an effective mechanism for managing transport demand and mobility. And the introduction of paid parking makes it possible to provide cities/regions with additional budget resources that can be used to improve the operation of public transport and the development of non-motorized modes of transportation.” “The procedure for developing a clear and precise parking policy, especially in large municipalities and cities, must begin with a methodological basis,” adds Mikhail Yakimov, director of the Institute of Transport Planning of the Russian Academy of Transport. “We need to make it as universal as possible, without burdening municipal authorities with responsibilities maintain registries and spend money on creating expensive information systems.”

“We will read the results of the study with interest,” promised the press service of the Moscow Department of Transport. “But a single parking space has been successfully operating in Moscow for many years: street and off-street parking in the city, as well as a number of non-city parking lots, are connected to it. Automated information systems have been developed and implemented, and parking itself can be paid for using a mobile application.” The Department of Transport says that today they are already offering their developments to regional colleagues. Thus, using the application you can already pay for parking in St. Petersburg, negotiations are underway with other entities.

“The systematization of uniform rules for organizing parking space is useful work,” they add in the Ministry of Transport of the Moscow Region. “But regions have their own characteristics – they are different road balance holders, so it is worth considering and working out the standards regarding the organization of parking space on different types of roads.” In the relevant government structures of Crimea and Sevastopol, Kommersant was told that the authorities of the peninsula have been dealing with issues of a single parking space and its management for several years, taking into account the resort specifics, which involve a multiple increase in the presence of passenger vehicles in the spring and summer. The Kazan mayor’s office did not comment on the planned study to Kommersant, explaining that “this is more relevant for other cities.”

Ivan Buranov; Alexander Dremlyugin, Simferopol; Kirill Antonov, Kazan