Since 2010, Moscow has invested in improving its public transport to try and ease the intensity of traffic and congestion while encouraging the public to use our buses, subways and trains. We are already seeing the impact of this modernisation project in reducing air pollution.
Moscow has high public and private transport usage, but the gradual transition to greener engines across all types of vehicles – including privately owned cars and public transport – as well as the growing popularity of electrical vehicles, has contributed to making Moscow a less polluted city. More than 68% of the city’s vehicles now meet the Euro-4 and higher environmental class standard, compared to fewer than 30% in 2010.
Moscow’s government has also sought to tackle congestion and reduce air pollution by placing restrictions on movement within the city and by regulating the amount of freight transport on the roads. There is now a ban on entry inside the third transport ring (TTK) and on the MKAD of trucks that meet the requirements below the environmental class “Euro-3”. Transport below the ecological class “Euro-2″ is also banned within the limits of the TTK to the MKAD and along the MKAD.
Transport infrastructure is a life-support in all cities and Moscow is no exception. The city was infamous for its congestion but the construction of new roads has transformed the flow of traffic through the city, making it a more pleasant environment for urban dwellers.
Over the past 10 years more than 1,000km of roads have been built in Moscow, including the reconstruction of 15 outbound highways, 17 interchanges on the MKAD and parallel road. A re-organisation of the traffic-light system, and the construction of new bridges, tunnels and overpasses have helped to increase the speed of traffic in peak hours by 64.7%.
At the same time, Moscow has invested in developing its public transport infrastructure. Since 2011, 301.4km of metro lines have been added to the city – along with 56 new metro stations, 31 new stations on the Moscow Central Ring and 58 new stations on the Moscow Central Diameters.
One of the main tasks of ensuring the environmental safety of road transport is the implementation of measures aimed at updating the rolling stock of urban passenger transport, along with the development of new types of stock to meet modern environmental standards. In Moscow, we achieved that by building a new network of urban railway transport: MCR and MCD.
The city has ambitious plans to electrify its bus network by 2032. By the end of 2020, 600 electric buses were running in Moscow and that number will increase to 1,000 by the end of 2021.
And it’s not just buses that are going electric. Moscow’s government encourages drivers of privately-owned electric cars by offering them free parking throughout the city. Electric cars are exempt from vehicle tax and can be recharged for free at any of the 65 electric charging stations are already operating in the city. By 2023, it is planned to install another 300.
In addition to motor vehicles, the city is developing a culture of cycling through the creation of bicycle infrastructure. This includes 850 km of dedicated cycling lanes, 629 bike rental stations, and 6,500 city bikes available to all who want to use them. The investment in cycling is already paying off: in the last quarter of 2020, 5.7 million rides were taken on rented bikes, an increase of 7,000 from the previous year. Electric scooters are also available to rent across Moscow.
The bike and scooter rental scheme represents the shared consumption economic principle. In Moscow, a car-sharing system already has more than 30 thousand cars rented per minute, seven years after it was introduced. Car sharing is a convenient alternative to personal vehicles and helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The transport greening measures adopted in Moscow have reduced polluting emissions by 2 times over the past decade, and air quality near major highways has improved by more than three times. Urban air pollution with carbon oxides decreased by 2.3 times, nitrogen oxide – by 2.2 times, and fine suspended particles of PM-by 1.8 times.
Greening Moscow’s transport system is key to making the city more resilient to the climate crisis, all while contributing to the economic development of the city.