THE ALMATY METRO – THE PROSPECTIVE BASIS OF THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Functioning until the second decade of the new century, the public transport in Almaty in various stages of development was characterized by the interaction of several types of street traffic. Buses, trolleybuses, trams, taxis alternately dominating in intercity passenger transportation. Since the mid 1930s, the main form of public transport was the tram. Ring-Radial circuit lines provide a possibility of not only a dozen radial and ring, but looping routes as well – http://almaty-tramway.narod.ru/map/hisline.gif . Subsequent mass distribution of buses, and then trolleybuses has formed in conjunction with the extensive network of trams, provided almost complete coverage of the potential users of passenger transport services. Existed since the middle to late twentieth century quite tough differentiation of the various streets determined the harmonious functioning of the system. The exceptions were a few express bus routes, the areas of marching parallel trolleybuses and, in rare cases, the tram lines. In this case, an express bus stops and taxi coincided with trolleybus stops only every three or four stops. Networks of interconnected modes evolved. By the end of the Century the reduction of the number of public bus fleets and the proliferation of private transport companies led to the domination of the rolling stock of small capacity vehicles on traditional routes. Comfort of bench rolling trolleybuses and trams, in sharp contrast to the “boxes”, has led to a redistribution of passenger traffic. The bulk of consumers began to use the services of electric transport, neglecting comfort to a low speed of transit – http://almaty-trolleybus.narod.ru/sheme/almaty-2007-2008.jpg ; http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/thumb/0/08/Almaty_trammap2006.gif/500px-Almaty_trammap2006.gif . However, the long-term and costliness of the network development of trams and trolleybuses was not allowing to satisfy passenger demand. The optimal solution to the problem was the revision of the bus routes network: Part of routes was combined, some elongated, some destroyed. At the same time, many new routes have appeared. At the same time the former on-street differentiation of various kinds began to break. Many of the new bus routes have duplicate trolleybus and tram routes. The combination on the same streets of different size, multivolume and multispeeded vehicles which was initially created did not cause difficultied to the road traffic. The problems started with a relatively quick replacement carried out by small capacity “boxes” to the multi-seat buses. The abundance of large-size vehicles, irreconcilability of maneuverability of buses trolleybuses, trams and especially complete coincidence stops along major complication has led to a dramatic road traffic situation in the city and the progressive reduction of comfort of services. Currently, the Public transport system of the city is represented by two tram, nine trolleybus and one hundred eleven bus routes. Total number of units of public transport is 1823. Also there are about five hundred units of taxis in the city. Initially Almaty Metro has opened the new stage in the development of public transport in the city. New country-type – off-street public transport – will significantly improve comfort and speed of travel. So, a trip to the station “Raiymbek Batyr” station “Alatau” takes 14-16 minutes while the bus or trolley bus same trip takes from 25 to 30 minutes at the usual time and 40 to 50 minutes in the morning and evening rush hour. The ever-increasing passenger traffic on the eight kilometer stretch of the seven stations of the first stage of the underground (“Raiymbek Batyr” – “Zhibek Joly” – “Almaly” – “Abai” – “Baikonur” – “Auezov Teatry” – “Alatau”) allowed to proceed to optimization of the existing route network of ground public transport. Municipality of Almaty city provided a multifaceted plan of development of transport infrastructure, including the anticipated launch of six control centers with turn-sites for urban and suburban routes. This will not only improve the performance of 21 city routes, but also will stop 45 suburban routes at the border – http://www.almaty.kz/page.php?page_id=1606&lang=1&parent_id=36 . Given the organization of optimal interaction with the underground seventeen bus routes were already adjusted (N2, N9, N23, N29, N29a, N32, N32a, N37, N42, N49, N54, N78, N81, N92, N98, N105, N117) and four trolley (N2, N5, N10, N19). According to published and posted on the posters in the lobbies of existing plants “Scheme of Almaty metropolitan” (CSE “Metropolitan”) – http://www.almaty-metro.narod.ru/map/2011-1b.jpg , the further development along the Abai avenue metro station “Alatau” (“Sairan” – “Molodejnaia” – “Saryarka” – “Dostyk” – “Kalkaman”) and Seifullin Avenue station “Raiymbek Batyr” (five stations: N1, N2, N3, N4, N5), a second stage of the “First Line”. The “Second Line” metro stations will be twelve (N9, N10, N11, N12, N13, N14, N15, N16, N17, N18, N19, N20) connecting the Orbita microdistricts with a recreation park. Interchange nodes of these lines will be on the station “Sairan / N17 and “Zhibek Zholy / N12. Future development of the underground would extend the “First line” of the railway station “Almaty-1” (three stations: N6, N7, N8) and the construction of a new line along the northern ring of the interchange hub station N16 “Second line” to the station N8 extended “First line” (eight stations: N28, N27, N26, N25, N24, N23, N22, N21). In this case the interchange node – station number 8 is integrated with the High-speed Railway station. However, Almaty Metro has development potential. This potential lies in the formation of radial-ring scheme: The total number of stations 188; The Existing lane (7 stations, 5 interchange nodes); The Constructed lane (3 stations, 2 interchange nodes); Planned lanes (37 stations, 24 interchange nodes); Proposed lanes (139 stations, 59 interchange nodes) – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:THE_ALMATY_METRO_DEVELOPED_NETWORK_-_the_Main_Scheme_(by_G.K.Samoilov).pdf ; http://www.free-photos.biz/temp/4850943714d703a7b3d464a78bc28c7e . The implementation of this scheme will in the foreseeable future even more link bus and trolleybus routes with subway stations. In doing so, bus and trolleybus routes will be much shorter, connecting some parts of the city with one or two nearest metro stations. The resulting system is a kind of “short route” will greatly enhance convenience for passengers, creating a subway integrated public transport network. Well-functioning system of integrated public transport will significantly reduce the number of cars on streets of the city by reducing the number of buses, and by providing a convenient alternative to personal vehicles – http://www.cda.kz/cast . This will make a significant contribution to the implementation of Strategy for Kazakhstan transition to “The Green economy.” by the President of the Republic N.A.Nazarbayev – http://www.karlib.kz/index.php/ru/resursy/tematicheskie-spiski/672-zelenaya-ekonomika-kazakhstana .