Kazan presented the experience of reforming the transport system in Cheboksary

(KZN.RU, October 5, Alena Miroshnichenko). The organization of urban public transport has become a key theme of the meeting of the Association of Cities of the Volga Region (ACV). It was held in Cheboksary under the chairmanship of Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan and the chairman of the Association. The event was held in the framework of the Congress of Local Authorities of Eurasia “Towards the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Representatives of Kazan, Orenburg, Perm, Samara, Cheboksary, and other cities shared their experience in this area. In the morning, the delegation of the Association visited the Cheboksary Trolleybus Directorate, the oldest transport enterprise in the city. Colleagues from Cheboksary told the meeting participants about the work of dispatchers, repair depots of the trolleybus management, and other sides of work. Cheboksary is ranked first in the number of rolling stock units in the Volga Federal District.

Aidar Abdulhakov, the chairman of the Committee on Transport, spoke about Kazan’s experience during the meeting. He told colleagues that in 2005, the transport problem was particularly urgent in the city. “When we were interviewing Kazan residents, public transport problems ranked second after housing and communal services in the ranking of socially significant problems”, he shared. The number of private-public transport was extremely high, the level of accidents reached unprecedented proportions, and the municipal enterprises involved in this sphere were on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2006, the work began on improving the quality of transport services. One of the most difficult issues was the optimization of the route network and the introduction of a new transport scheme. A study of passenger traffic was conducted for this with the involvement of more than 12 thousand students of Kazan universities. A. Abdulkhakov noted that there was no such experience in other Russian citied on optimizing the route network and updating the entire rolling stock.

“Kazan’s transport reform was noted at the federal level. Kazan received awards for achievements in reforming urban public transport in 2008 in 8 nominations of the international public transport industry award “Golden Chariot” established by the State Duma Transport Committee and the Ministry of Transport of the RF”, said A. Abdulkhakov. He marked that the changes continued further.

The Mayor of Kazan marked that at the beginning of the work, the city did not receive federal support. The city budget did not have funds for these purposes. “There were debts exceeding the city’s budget by 2 times. We walked this road, made bumps. We gained not only practice, but also legislative and regulatory basis. We have everything to share with you now. Send your managers of transport enterprises, transport committees, deputies who are in charge of these issues. The public transport, like the housing stock, is one of the issues that our residents face daily for the most part. The level of social tension and social well-being depends on the well-coordinated, professional, high-quality work of the industry. We will be happy to share this experience”, he addressed his colleagues. I. Metshin invited them to familiarize themselves with the experience of Kazan in this matter on the spot, in the capital of the RT.

The agenda of the general meeting of the Association of Volga cities included other issues. Thus, the participants discussed the results of the 20th anniversary of the formation and development of local self-government and summed up the All-Russian exhibition-competition of children's drawings.

Mfo Parks Tau, the President of the World Organization “United Cities and Local Governments”, Alexey Simonov, the assistant plenipotentiary representative of the President of the RF in the Volga Federal District, Valery Filimonov, the chairman of the State Council of the Chuvash Republic, Leonid Cherkesov, a State Duma deputy of the Federal Assembly of the RF, attended the meeting.

Ilsur Metshin, the chairman of the ACV, noted that the streamlined interaction of the federal and municipal authorities provides a more expeditious solution to important issues. “I express the general opinion that joint work with the office of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation allows us to solve many pressing issues for the Volga municipalities. Your support is very important for the entire Association”, he said.

The chairman of ACV expressed his gratitude to the heads of cities who were at the origin of the association and actively contributed to its strengthening. He awarded letters of gratitude to Vladimir Selivanov, the Executive Vice President and the general director of the International Assembly of Capitals and Major Cities, Dmitry Azarov, the Governor of the Samara Region, Evgeny Kadyshev, the Mayor of Cheboksary, Olga Berezneva, the chairman of the Orenburg City Council, and others.

In addition, the Mayor of Kazan was awarded a commemorative order of the International Assembly of Capitals and Major Cities “For Contribution to the Development of Commonwealth of Independent States Cities”.

For reference

The first general meeting of the heads of the seven largest cities of the Volga region (Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, and Cheboksary) was held in Samara on October 27, 1998. The agreement on the establishment of the association was signed. This event gave a start in life to a qualitatively new structure of interaction of municipalities: the Association of Cities of the Volga region. Later Yoshkar-Ola, Astrakhan, Saransk, Volgograd, and Kirov joined it.

At present, the Association of Cities of the Volga region unites 25 cities. 14 are administrative centers of the subjects of the Federation located within the Volga Federal District, 2 cities from the Southern Federal District (Astrakhan, Volgograd), and 9 cities of the second level from 7 regions of the Volga Federal District (Arzamas, Balakovo, Dimitrovgrad, Novokuibyshevsk, Novocheboksarsk, Sarapul, Sterlitamak, Syzran, and Tolyatti). More than 14 million people live in the cities-members of the association, which is more than 12% of the country's voters.