Update Post: November 30, 2023 6:14 pm
Russian President Vladimir Putin during an event dedicated to the transfer of new equipment to 12 Russian regions in order to update their public transportation, via videoconference. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/press service of the President of the Russian Federation/TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated transporters on the occasion of Transport Worker’s Day. On the occasion of the holiday, 12 regions received 570 new buses, trolleybuses and trams. Vladimir Putin participated in the transfer of all this material.
“The quality of life of people, the growth of industry, tourism and trade, as well as the strengthening of the entire national economy largely depend on the smooth and safe operation of the transport complex,” noted the head of the country. .
And good public transport also saves the nerves of people who do not have to stay at a bus stop for a long time wondering whether they will be able to get to work or not.
The Russian leader described the future of public transport: digital services and applications for passengers must be introduced. Inland residents will surely be delighted if they can see the actual arrival time of transport on their phones. The President also instructed to increase the “speed and comfort of travel.”
“In our country, more than ten billion people are transported every year by buses, trolleybuses and trams alone,” Putin noted.
Let us observe for ourselves that these problems cannot be solved with new transport alone. In many cities, traffic priorities need to be changed: it is impossible to make buses faster if (even the newest ones) are stuck in a traffic jam with other cars. But many cities still need to grow to have dedicated lanes.
Vladimir Vladimirovich spoke about loans to modernize public transport.
– 50 billion rubles have been allocated for these purposes. This year, with these funds, around three thousand buses will be transferred to the regions,” said the head of the country.
Another region will receive fifteen hundred trams and trolleybuses.
Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev noted that now all Russian factories manufacturing public transport are fully equipped.
In particular, new vehicles were received in the capital of Chechnya. Putin specifically highlighted the importance of this.
– The republic has been transformed since those tragic years, in fact, not much time has passed and nothing can be learned, only a prosperous republic. And Grozny itself is completely different (look – Ed.). Do you remember that there was a time when we thought about moving the capital of the republic to another place, because almost everything was destroyed to the ground? Now these thoughts seem strange, because Grozny is simply a wonderful city,” said Vladimir Vladimirovich.
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, responded by complaining: he was scolded because Putin had not visited the republic for a long time.
The new buses and other equipment arrived in the Amur, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Kaluga, Murmansk, Rostov, Chechnya, Bashkiria, Perm and Stavropol regions.
At the end of the ceremony, Vladimir Putin symbolically began the delivery of equipment.
“I do this with great pleasure: I authorize it,” the president responded to Savelyev’s request to allow the movement of equipment.