GD mayoral candidate Kaladze presents Tbilisi transport policy
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, September 14
Georgian Dream's Tbilisi mayoral candidate presented a transport policy to the public this Monday, which, according to him, will be implemented if the citizens re-elect him as Tbilisi mayor. Kaladze promises to increase the number of municipal buses, arrange transport corridors, launch a system of term passenger passes, and, as a result, increase the speed and capacity of public transport.
According to the GD mayoral candidate and current Mayor of Tbilisi, the renewal of the minibus park will be completed this year as well, as promised.
380 new buses will be added to Tbilisi. Of these, 180 units will be 8-meter buses, and next year 200 units of 18-meter buses will be purchased. There will be 10 transport corridors in the city, on which public transport will be able to move quickly and smoothly through the appropriate bus lanes.
Tbilisi Vice-Mayor Irakli Khmaladze spoke about the details of the municipal transport renewal.
According to him, Kaladze's team has managed to purchase 536 brand new buses and bring them to the city during the last 4 years.
“We have thus completely replaced the yellow buses. Our goal is to purchase an additional 380 buses over the next 4 years to make it even more comfortable and flexible to travel by public transport,” Khmaladze said.
According to him, the introduction of 1000 new minibusses in the city will be completed by the end of the year.
As the vice-mayor explained, the income for the drivers of minibusses will be in the form of salary, which will be more stable for them. “Free, 90-minute transfer mode will be extended to all minibusses, as we have today on 300 new minibusses,” he added.
A new public transport coverage network will be launched in 2023 and 10 fast transport corridors will be completed by then. The first corridor has been operating for a year now. In 2020, a rapid corridor connecting Politkovskaya and Beri Gabriel Salos streets was put into operation. 9 more corridors will be put into operation in the term of the next 2 years.
As it was mentioned at the presentation, the following fast-moving traffic corridors will be arranged: University Str. - Moscow Ave.; Tamarashvili Str.- Moscow Ave.; Chavchavadze Ave. - Khizanishvili Str.; Vazha-Pshavela Ave. - Beri Gabriel Salosi Str.; University Str. - Kupradze St.; Khizanishvili Str. - Kupradze Str.; Demetre Tavdadebuli Str. - Station Square; Demetre Tavdadebuli St.- University Str.; Khizanishvili Str. - University Str.
Khmaladze noted that a system of 1-week, 1-month, 6-month, and 1-year passenger passes will be launched for preferential and comfortable travel.
“As a result of all this, we will have the following improvements in the direction of public transport: the 35-minute waiting period at stops will be reduced to 10 minutes; During our tenure, over the next 2 years, the total capacity of Tbilisi buses increased from 27,000 to 52,000 seats, and from 2023 to 103,000 seats; The coverage area of the bus network will increase from 151 sq. Km to 235 sq. Km; Speed on fast transport corridors will increase by 30%; The parameter of daily public transport service, which today is 623,000 trips, will increase to 1,050,000 trips in 2 years, ” Khmaladze said.
Guramishvili, Station Square, Sarajishvili, Marjanishvili, Freedom Square, 300 Aragveli, Rustaveli, Isani, Tsereteli Avenue, and Nadzaladevi - these are the metro stations on the rehabilitation of which Tbilisi City Hall will spend Euro60 million. The project will be implemented in cooperation with the EBRD.
“We have announced a tender for the purchase of 40 units of European type wagons and at the end of this month, we will know the already winning company. An additional 52 wagons will be overhauled, which will increase the safety of passengers.”
The construction of the corridors connecting the two new ropeways: Isani-Metromsheni-Vazisubani and Sarajishvili-Sea district will start and be completed within the next four years. The construction of the ropeway connecting Rustaveli-Mtatsminda will also be completed.
According to the Vice-Mayor of Tbilisi, the introduction of a smart transport system in the capital will start in 2022. He explained the priorities of the smart system and said that the users of this system are Singapore, London, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, and Copenhagen.
It collects and processes data on road traffic, develops special modes and solutions to regulate problem nodes.
The system can identify unexpected incidents and traffic jams and create and implement a special mode in automatic mode to regulate and neutralize them. It can also prioritize special transport such as public, emergency, and fire and release special corridors for fast movement.
Ultimately, the goal of the smart transport system is to increase road safety, reduce traffic jams and travel time, increase traffic speeds and improve the ecological situation.
The campaign also includes the program of replacement of all houses in disrepair.
“As for the Khrushchev project, in the third massif of Varketili, the concept has been prepared, we have already offered it to the business and 2 specific businesses are working on a project to replace a specific area.
I hope the project will be successful and it will be an example for other businesses. However, if these areas cannot be repaired and damaged houses replaced in the third Varketili massif, our new program will be extended to this settlement and we will replace these houses,” Khmaladze explained.
