"A PLACE IN THE SUN"

Unfortunately, it has to be recognised that the problem of traffic jams and congestion on the roads of Baku has not been solved by the introduction of a system of  underground pay and display car parks, which have got rid of the "do as they please" traffic wardens. This may be because some structures have evidently taken the relevant instruction from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev not so much as guidelines for reducing the city's traffic congestion, but as a means of further topping up their coffers. Otherwise, they would not have started to set up parking meters in those parking spaces from which cars causing traffic jams used to be towed away in the fairly recent campaign to stop unlawful parking.

Consequently, the majority of motorists have come to the conclusion that "the installation of parking meters instead of 'No Parking' signs" is simply a money spinner. What is more, today we are all witnessing to the fact that there are just as many traffic jams in the city, especially during the rush hour. With the start of autumn and the beginning of the academic year the situation has become even worse. The city's inhabitants are complaining that, no matter what time they leave home for work, they always seem to get there late; children arrive at nurseries and schools late, and students are late for their lectures at their institutes. Even the deputies are complaining that they arrive late for meetings and events. What's to be done about it? 

No let-up in the tense situation

The majority of experts are unanimous that paying for parking has not solved traffic problems anywhere in the world. Pay and display car parks are just a tool for regulating the demand for parking spaces in those places where demand evidently exceeds supply. Officials believe that making the residents of Baku pay for parking considerably reduces the number of traffic jams. Moreover, at BakuCity Executive Authority they are unable to a give a straight answer to the question of how the city centre is to be spared traffic congestion and how the flow of traffic through it is made easier by paying for parking. We would like to note that the special unit of the Motor Transport Directorate attached to Baku City Executive Authority is in charge of making traffic-related information available, installing parking meters and drawing up new projects.

Rustam Hasanaliyev, a member of staff at that Directorate has told Regionplus that at the present time 435 parking meters have been installed in the city, and by the end of the year they planis to bring this number up to 1,000. The location of the parking meters is determined jointly with the Traffic Police, according to the distribution of vehicle flow through the streets in the city centre. But it is not clear what the Traffic Police's considerations are, when they nowallow paid parking in spaces from which they themselves previously towed cars away! It turns out that, if the parking space is free of charge, the vehicle affects the flow of traffic along the street, but if it has been paid for, then the car does not get in anyone's way!.

When asked how the measures implemented are helping to combat traffic congestion, thespokesman for the motor transport directorate's special unit replied that in the city's Zone One (the central streets) parking is limited to four hours, and cars are not parked at an angle of 45 degrees to the pavement, but at the side of it, so as not to make the roadway narrower.

The Directorate spokesman said that it is planned to make car parks or install parking meters close to bus stops in order to encourage a decrease in the number of private cars on the roads. "The driver simply parks his vehicle and gets onto the bus," he says. "I myself frequently take the underground [metro] to work. That is the quickest way to get where I need to go." Unfortunately, he notes, our fellow countrymen have a habit of becoming a slave of their belongings, even if that is inconvenient.

On the other hand, it is no secret that the culture of "car-driving" and "car-ownership" in our country leaves much to be desired. Over the last few years, car ownership has increased many times over. But, unlike Europe, where people prefer cars with a small cylinder capacity or bicycles for their personal transport, in our country off-road vehicles of impressive size are considered a must-have attribute of personal success. There is no way that the enormous number of these massive "hearse-like" vehicles on the roads can help to reduce the traffic congestion.

But the dissatisfied motorists put forward their own arguments, namely that the introduction of parking metres is costing them much more, but has not resolved the congestion problem. But the advice from the official structures "to leave your car at home" is not always appropriate in reality. "I have three children who go to different schools," one of the residents of the city tells us. "How am I supposed to get them there, if not by car?"

It has to be admitted that it costs the motorist a tidy sum today, because he cannot just leave his car in the street. What is more, he cannot park for more than four hours in the city centre. He has to pay another four manats for extra time and, if he doesn't pay, he gets a fine of 60 manats. Thus, in the city's Zone One (the centre, the area around the Old Town, Nizami Street and so on) the cost of one hour's parking is one manat. In Zone Two, which applies to the area of "Ganclik" and "Elmlar Akademiyasi" metro stations and the settlement of Yasamal, one hour costs 50 qapiks [half a manat]. Furthermore, in the distant suburban part of the city covered by Zone Three parking charges are 30 qapik per hour. But the measures undertaken are obviously not sufficient to get rid of the traffic jams.

Underground car parks are regarded as yet another way of resolving this problem. Parking charges at two state ones are from 50 qapiks to six manats for 24 hours. But you can buy a season ticket offering a daily charge of 10 qapiks at the "Winter Gardens" underground car park and 25 qapiks at the Azadlig car park. All in all, if you have this monthly ticket, you will be paying 30 manats per month and can keep your car there for the whole working day, and for 60 manats [per month] you have the right to use the parking lot round-the-clock, which is naturally convenient for the residents of the nearby blocks of flats.

True, there is a considerable drawback. These underground car parks with relatively reasonable charges only free up the streets a little bit, and their capacity is such that they cannot provide sufficient parking spaces for all vehicles; for example, the car park under the "Winter Gardens" can accommodate 4,700 vehicles. We would like to note that the private car parks do not have empty spaces in spite of their sufficiently high charges. Besides this, the underground car parks with acceptable prices are not always close to where people work. On the whole, at the directorate they believe that, taking into consideration the number of new buildings and offices under construction, the owners of offices should be obliged to build underground garages for their employees' cars. Besides this, paying for parking in the centre will mean that the owners of business complexes will gradually begin to leave the historic buildings. You see, free or cheap parking is one of the most important factors taken into consideration when renting premises. At the same time, ordinary office workers do not usually use them, and it is those Baku citizens who are most affected by the high parking charges. Top businessmen, like high-ranking officials, are unlikely to find themselves without a parking lot.

The head of Baku's Traffic Police press service, Vagif Asadov, also asserts that the introduction of parking meters is a good way of cutting downtraffic congestion. But, although the idea of introducing them originally was officially aimed at getting rid of the congestion, the situation is not so simple. Now everyone who has fed the meter has every right to leave his car there. Therefore the introduction of the new system without providing alternative "car storage facilities" makes the system ineffectual, causing the city's residents even more inconvenience. In either event, they have to leave their cars, go to workand so forth. It is obvious that qualitatively different measuresare needed to deal with the traffic congestion rather than simply paying for parking

A city within a city

Why doesn't paying above-ground parking solve the problem? The fact is that even one car parked along a pavement can get in the way of whole row, and, in the case of parking meters, you can be sure that there won't be any free spaces at the side of the pavement anyway. Congestion in the city centre really only boils down to one factor. In the mornings most people go there from the dormitory zones to go to work, while in the evening they return home. This problem can be resolved by concentrating business and administrative facilities throughout the territory of Baku. If offices are to be located outside the city centre, so-called business parks need to be set up.

Today they are already being created near the "anchor", the buildings occupied by the organs of state power, in locations where there are good transport links allowing people to get there from all districts of the city, and in places with good views of the sea, the Old Town of Icari Sahar, that is, in the part around the centre. Clearly, today it would be extremely difficult, even impossible, to "move" the offices from the centre in order to rid it of trafficcongestion. Besides, it is convenient for companies to be in the centre since everything is nearby. The office premises on the outskirts are mainly of interest to those who work autonomously and do not need to move from one premises to another during the day.

However, news has been whipped up by the media for some time now that there are plans afoot to construct a satellite town for Baku not far from Alat, to create six new sub-centres in the capitaland so forth. According to these plans, many state institutions, ministries, diplomatic missions and a number of educational establishments would be moved to Alat. Naturally this would help considerably in reducing the excessive congestion in Baku. Besides this, in order to establish transport links between the new town and Baku, the introduction of high-speed trains is planned, which would cover the distance in 20 minutes.

Naturally, the introduction of high-speed trains on intercity and suburban routes will not only help the townspeople to get out to "the countryside" more rapidly, but will be a more environmentally friendly and economical form of transport. It remains to be hoped that these innovations will be implemented. Taking into account the mistakes and the possibilities, both in implementing them fully, as well as creating something of real assistance to the population. It needs to be understood that there will be congestion until cardinal measures are taken to alleviate the traffic situation in the city centre. This can be done either artificially by making the population pay more in congestion charges, parking charges, by prohibiting entry into the city centre and banning parking; or it can be achieved by choosing more advantageous alternatives such as convenient public transport, having cycle lanesand better traffic infrastructure, by creating convenient pedestrian zones and by building satellite towns. The optimal variant is to do this as a complex. There is no other way to tackle it.