At the government meeting on improving road safety and reduction of jams, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev focused on the Uzbekistan public transport, his spokesman Sherzod Asadov reported.

The head of state stressed that the country's public transport system was not yet sufficiently organized to satisfy the public.

Intercity buses, he said, usually do not run on schedule, but depart only after 40-50 passengers are on board. This is due to the fact that there is no mechanism for compensating losses for firms providing in intercity transportation. Subsidies are provided only for suburban routes.

The president said that a new system for developing public transport serving medium and long distances would now be launched.

A separate approach will be applied to Tashkent and intercity routes.

Every day, about 1 million people come to Tashkent, of which 275 thousand are from the Tashkent province. In this regard, the capital's public transport system will switch to a Greater Tashkent format, covering all adjacent areas of the province, the president added.

To this end, 20 bus routes reaching the Tashkent Ring Road will be extended by 15-20 km, and 6 new routes will be added. This is expected to facilitate travels for residents of the Tashkent province.

"There is no need to worry that the wait time though when the routes will be extended. By September, we will purchase 200 new buses to the capital, and next year - another 1,000," the president stressed.

The new system is to be launched from September 1 in Tashkent and Tashkent province, and from January 1 - in other large cities.

The meeting also emphasized the need to revive intercity and interprovincial bus routes. In this direction, a subsidy per passenger will be introduced for buses and minibuses.

The benefit on the recycling fee for buses will be extended for another three years and extended to minibuses.

Thus, in Tashkent, with the attraction of $300 million in investments from China, it is planned to repair 200 km of roads and 4 bridges.

To reduce traffic congestion in the capital, an intelligent transport system will be launched. More than 700 intersections in the city, as well as all traffic lights and photo and video surveillance cameras will be connected to it. Remote control of traffic lights depending on the traffic flow is expected to reduce congestion by 25-30%.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev also said that he personally checked the condition of the roads in Tashkent and got stuck in a traffic jam: “Last Saturday, Sunday, I was driving myself. Nobody knows who is driving. But I also stood in a traffic jam - I stood for 15-20 minutes.”

Intercity communication

He stressed at the meeting that there were more than 1,200 U-turns on national and international highways, but only 146 of them are equipped with underground or overhead overpasses. In addition, out of more than 10 thousand pedestrian crossings, only 154 are equipped with underground or overhead crossings.

In this regard, by October 1, the international highways Tashkent - Samarkand - Termez, Tashkent - Fergana Valley and Samarkand - Bukhara will be checked for compliance with safety requirements.

A feasibility study will be developed before the year-end, which will indicate how many underground and overground overpass and pedestrian crossings, as well as modern reflective road signs and markings need to be installed.

The forecast for next year for the implementation of these goals includes attracting $200 million from international financial organizations.