Review of the Urban Transport Sector in the Russian Federation : Transition to Long-Term Sustainability

Abstract

Russian cities are undergoing critical economic and social changes that affect the performance and condition of their urban transport systems. While the population of most large cities in Russia (over one million residents) has remained relatively unchanged over the last decade, the average income of the urban dwellers has sharply increased. The number of private cars per capita has increased rapidly, generating a demand for urban mobility which is increasingly difficult to meet. This review of the urban transport sector in the Russian Federation (the Review, hereafter) aims to assess the current condition and performance of urban transport systems in medium-to-large size Russian cities and to identify key issues and underlying causes. The review principally covers software of urban transport in the secondary cities of Russia, including institutional arrangements, legal and regulatory issues, operation of public transport systems, traffic management, and parking, and less extensively hardware aspects, such as construction of road network.