HANNOVER, April 23 (Itar-Tass) —— Moscow will build more bike tracks in order to fight traffic jams in the city, Head of Moscow’s Department of Transport and Development of Road and Transport Infrastructure Yevgeny Mikhailov said at a round table at an industrial exhibition in Hannover on Monday, April 23.
“We should create a network of bike tracks, starting with pilot projects. The Moscow Architectural Committee has prepared a tentative plan of bike tracks and we are also creating a group of public organisations that will present their solution,” he said.
Moscow’s authorities plan to build parking places for bicycles at major transport hubs in the city and almost 73 kilometres of bike tracks by 2016.
According to the draft programme “Development of Moscow’s Transport System in 2012-2016” published at the city government’s official website, a network of bicycle parking facilities will provide the basis for bicycle infrastructure in the city. They will be built at major transfer hubs: near subway stations, railway stations and platforms, bus stations.
In addition, bicycle parking areas will also appear at “social infrastructure facilities, educational institutions, and recreational places for young people”. The city authorities are planning to create a network of 72.8 kilometres of bike tracks, both combined and separate, in 2012-2016. Several routes have been proposed.
Bike maps indicating the safest and fastest routes will be made available on stands near bike tracks. They will also be published as booklets and interactive Internet maps compatible with mobile devices.
Muscovites have more than 3 million bicycles, but less than 0.01 percent of people use them for moving around the city because of the total lack of necessary infrastructure, heavy traffic and lack of interest in this mode of transportation.
The average speed of above-ground public transport at rush hours is 11 kilometres per hour, while a bicycle can move on dedicated lanes at a speed of 15.5 kilometres per hour.