Khanifov: A single passenger transport operator is planned to be created in the Republic of Tatarstan.

      In Tatarstan, it is planned to create a single operator for passenger transportation and then implement unified ticket technologies across the republic. Special attention is expected to be paid to the integration of a platform for paying for travel tickets. This was reported by the head of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Tatarstan, Farit Khamifov, at a joint off-site meeting in Naberezhnye Chelny of two committees of the State Council of Tatarstan – on economics, investments, and entrepreneurship, and on housing policy and infrastructure development, as reported by the press service of the republican parliament. Before the meeting began, the deputies visited the Municipal Unitary Enterprise "City Transport" and familiarized themselves with the organization of public municipal transport in Naberezhnye Chelny. In the automotive city, the bus and tram fleets have been merged into a single structure with a centralized dispatch service. The enterprise has 217 buses and 100 trams. If the basis of the bus fleet consists of modern "NeFAZ" buses produced at the plant owned by KAMAZ, the tram fleet requires updating: the wear and tear of the rolling stock reaches 65-70%, many cars have exceeded their normative service life and are considered outdated. To address this issue, the enterprise plans to purchase 11 new trams by the end of the current year. A mobile application "City Transport" has been launched in Chelny. It allows passengers to track the movement of buses and trams in real-time, as well as predict the exact arrival time of transport. The service data is also automatically transmitted to electronic information boards located at stops. "The key elements of this model have become the merger of transport enterprises and the implementation of our own dispatch system with unique technological solutions. Our goal is to take into account the mistakes and conclusions made during the Chelny experiment to exclude them in the possible further replication of this practice," said Andrey Egorov, chairman of the State Council Committee on housing policy and infrastructure development, to journalists. "The introduction of new engineering solutions has led to a multiple increase in efficiency: the staff of dispatch operators has been reduced to two people while simultaneously monitoring hundreds of transport units, including controlling the load of freight transport," noted Ryagat Khusainov, chairman of the State Council Committee on economics, investments, and entrepreneurship. "The modern system tracks the occupancy of bus and tram cabins, adherence to schedules, deviations from routes, and violations of speed limits by drivers. This technological approach is of great interest for scaling," he added. Later, at the joint meeting of the two committees in the Chelny city hall, the Minister of Transport and Road Economy of Tatarstan, Farit Khamifov, noted that there are more than 1,800 buses and about 500 trams, trolleybuses, and electric buses in Tatarstan. The metro operates in Kazan, and suburban transport is provided by 38 modern electric trains of the "Lastochka" series. Air traffic is conducted on 60 domestic and 34 international routes. Passenger navigation is carried out by a fleet of 23 vessels.

      The main task, the minister stated, is to increase the comfort and regularity of public transport throughout the republic. "In Naberezhnye Chelny, this has been achieved; the right decisions were made regarding the merger of the bus and tram managements," he pointed out, adding that it is also necessary to ensure pedestrian comfort and increase the speed of trams in large cities.

      Photo: © Salavat Kamaletdinov / "Tatar-inform"