BILLIONS IN INVESTMENTS

Currently, Azerbaijan is the initiator of and participant in almost every major transportation project in the region and makes everything possible to increase its potential as a transit country. Large investment in this area is undoubtedly justified, as Azerbaijan's geographical position allows it to become an important regional hub at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. However, along with implementing global projects, the government allocates huge funds for the restoration of road-transportation infrastructure in the country.

The results of development in these areas were most vividly presented at the exhibitions "TransCaspian" and "Road&Traffic," which featured all branches of the transportation sector. The scope of these exhibitions can be appreciated by the sheer number of participants - this year the exhibitions gathered 104 companies from 16 countries. Foreign exhibitors accounted for a half of the total number of participants.

Developing in a big way

Speaking at the exhibition opening ceremony, Deputy Transport Minister of Azerbaijan Musa Panahov said that in the past 10 years, 20bn dollars had been invested in the transportation sector, which was geared towards the development of road infrastructure, construction of bridges, crossings, flyovers, airports, and a new port and purchase of the means of transportation. Investments in the transportation sector are made not only from public funds, but also by raising credits with major international financial institutions, which attests their confidence in the country.

As a result, more than 9,000 km of motorways, 250 tunnels, bridges and viaducts, and six airports have been renovated or built in Azerbaijan during this period, as well as other works have been carried out. Important steps have been taken aimed at developing international projects and the country's participation in the transport corridors.

As regards the achievements of the transportation sector, one should note progress in the implementation of major international projects, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad, which will make an invaluable contribution to the development of the transit potential of Azerbaijan. A new 105-km branch of the trunk railroad is planned to be built under the BTK project. In addition, a segment of the Akhalkalaki-Marabda- Tbilisi railroad will be reconstructed in Georgia. After that, the corridor's peak capacity will reach 17m tonnes of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be in the range of one million passengers and 6.5m tonnes of cargo.

Musa Panahov said that works under the BTK project were conducted at a quickened pace, and the first construction train would be dispatched to the border with Turkey in October. The commissioning of the railroad linking the rail systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is expected to take place next year. Speaking about passenger transportation by the BTK railroad, the Deputy Minister noted that the most profitable and competitive tariffs, as compared with air transport, will be identified, which will make it possible to provide favourable conditions for people wishing to travel by rail.

Transport for public

As noted above, the government pays great attention to the development of transport infrastructure inside the country too. Consider, for example, the introduction of a card payment system at passenger buses operating in the capital. It has been reported that each of the 2,500 buses of the public transport in Baku will be fully adapted to cashless payments already by the end of 2014 - at the beginning of 2015. About 400,000 fare cards have been offered for sale and about half of this quantity has already been bought by citizens, which regularly use only some of these cards. Thus far, the use of such cards has not been widespread, which is due to lack of awareness on the part of passengers and sometimes due to the instances of bus drivers refusing to give passengers the opportunity for cashless payments. The initiators of the project are hopeful that, as the project progresses, all such disadvantages will be eliminated.

Transition to cashless payment of fares will also benefit the owners of vehicles operating on a particular route, as this will allow them to receive funds directly, obviating the intermediary, i.e. a driver. Accordingly, only those entrepreneurs stand the chance of remaining in business who will be able to ensure the payment of wages to bus drivers and high quality of public conveyance. In addition, the full transition to cashless payment of bus fares in Baku will automatically lead to the abandonment of a planned system of collection and delivery of earnings, as well as to transition to the bus driver payroll system.

Currently, in trying to earn as much money as possible, bus drivers violate traffic rules and exceed the safety speed limit, which often leads to accidents and endanger the lives of passengers. With the introduction of a cashless payment system, drivers will not be involved in the process of payment of fares by passengers, which is supposedly will have a positive impact on the traffic schedule and overall operation of buses on the route.

In struggling to improve the quality and safety of passenger transportation, the Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan has taken strict measures. Thus, M. Panahov was quoted as saying that as many as 130 drivers were suspended from work on passenger conveying routes in the last year alone.

Despite the fact that the situation has considerably improved, the Transport Ministry is not going to rest on the laurels. In order to develop public transport in the capital, active work is being carried out on improvement and development of metro lines, optimisation of bus routes and importation of new buses and vehicles (taxis) into the country. Given the high passenger traffic, the Ministry of Transport is currently considering options for establishing public conveyance between Baku and Sumqay?t by means of commuter trains.

Finally, the Transport Ministry is developing a State Programme on Addressing Traffic Problems in Baku for the Period 2014-2018. Speaking at the conference "Road and underground infrastructure: solutions to the problems of urbanisation" in Baku, Heydar Turabov, head of sector of the Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan, said that the "state program provides for the reconstruction of existing and construction of new roads, road junctions, bridges and pedestrian crossings."

A Ministry of Transport representative was quoted as saying that, in accordance with the State Programme, Baku is divided into three parking zones with the specified location and number of parking lots. In addition, as reported by the head of sector, the State Programme on Traffic Regulation is currently being prepared by the Ministry, which involves the construction of 71 parking spaces. "Baku accounts for about 60 per cent of traffic in the country. At present, the length of roads in the capital is 1,550 km; to accommodate the above flow, their length should be increased to 4,000-5,000 km," H. Turabov said. He added that on the whole, the process of modernisation and reconstruction of the country's main highways is planned to be completed before the end of 2015.