Transport Prospects in Georgia

Georgia's passenger transport network consists of around 2000 intercity and domestic routes covering a total of more than 7000 km and serving almost 300 million passengers annually. This makes up around 60% of the country's overall passenger transportation. There are approximately 15,000 buses in Georgia, of which 12,700 are marshrutkas (minibuses), the rest are medium and large buses. The fleet is rather old, most of the transport means are 10-15 year old. In the capital there are currently around 7000 minibuses operating on the supply and demand principle. The state is presently trying to improve the old infrastructure, which is often the cause of traffic accidents. Passenger security is a very serious issue in the country: in 2009 officially there were 5482 car accidents recorded, in which 741 people were killed and 8,344 injured. There have been a number of serious accidents involving passenger buses. The figures are disturbing and the state has started to take extra measures. Apart from building and reconstructing new roads with proper pavements from this autumn, in line with common practice in most of Europe and the US, the use of passenger safety belts will become obligatory.