What does Russia lack?

Resource: VESTNIK

One of the primary factors in the successful formation of a comfortable urban environment is a well-designed transport infrastructure. Today no one can imagine life without a car, a public transport stop five minutes from home or a flight to any other part of the planet. But having become accustomed to convenience, people always begin to demand more.



Yulia Zubarik, founder of the urban planning bureau Master's Plan:

We live in an amazing time when incomprehensible elements appear within the transport system, which then become an integral part of life. We talked to experts about the now popular alternative modes of transportation in the city, the problems associated with the integration of such modes into the urban fabric and the transport of the future.

— The transport system is the foundation of the city, which ensures its vitality, comfort, and, finally, its attractiveness for the living. The design of any new district and development should begin with an assessment and modeling of the future activity of residents.

Now a lot is said about the deteriorating health of the urban population, and this is directly related to the planning of the transport infrastructure. The more sustainable and healthier a city is, the more its transport system is characterized by what urbanist Ian Gale defined as "green mobility" - walking, cycling and public transportation. The planning of the transport system should also be a subject to this task.

The emergence of cycle lanes and bike rental system in Moscow has shown its effectiveness. Nowadays, areas of renovation are already planning for an opportunity to get from home to the subway by bicycle and leave it in a specially equipped parking lot or to cycle from home to the park.

As for public transport, great hopes are put into cable cars which are environmentally friendly and interesting for citizens. However, usually cable cars are perceived as part of a tourist infrastructure. The first public transport cable car operates in Nizhny Novgorod and connects districts separated by the river. This mode of transportation is very popular among the citizens. In Moscow there is a whole program for the construction of several cable car lines which will become part of the urban transportation system. The first one should appear between the Rechnoy Vokzal and Tushino. The line is will be completed in 2023 and will operate as any public transport in the city - you will be able to ride on it by using "Troika" card. Several other lines are being planned as well. An aerial road will connect the amusement park "Ostrov Mechty" with the future station of the BCL "Nagatinsky Zaton" metro station. Another one is planned to be built on the territory of the former ZIL plant - from Marc Chagall embankment to the "Nagatinskaya" metro station. Other lines are supposed to go from the bus station "Yuzhniye Vorota" to Kapotnya with the intermediate station located at the "Alma-Atinskaya". This will reduce travel time to the metro for the residents of Kapotnya and Brateevo. The projects of overhead lines from "Sokolniki" to VDNH and Botanicheskiy Sad, from Lipetskaya street to shopping center "Vegas" and from the settlement of Mosrentgen to the shopping center "Mega Tepliy Stan" and several others are also discussed.

Difficulties with the construction of such lines are primarily related to the novelty of such solution and its relative high cost. In Moscow, an additional difficulty is associated with the selection of sites. As for cycle lanes, the main thing here is to avoid disproportion because their appearance is not appropriate and safe everywhere. The main mistake is that cycle lanes, like any other pedestrian route, must be carefully designed so that people can use them comfortably while they do not interfere with other modes of transport.

Changes in all spheres of life are now happening very quickly. Therefore, the development of the transport system, in my opinion, will go in two directions. On the one hand, the ability to study and work remotely will lead to people spending less time commuting to their offices or homes. This will lead ro them spending more time cycling and walking, which means that other modes of individual mobility of all sorts will develop. The new modern life deserves off-street transportation, especially in the form of tram lines. Of course, they need to be modernized by making them quieter and more comfortable, but abandoning this environmentally friendly, comfortable means of urban transportation is definitely not the right thing to do. On the other hand, the need to quickly get, for example, from Moscow to Novosibirsk, without leaving a carbon footprint, will lead to the development of new types of highspeed transportation. One example of this could be the Hyperloop - a vacuum train by Elon Musk, the prototype of which is currently being built in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The possibility of getting to St. Petersburg or Kazan in an hour is impressive.