Funding for Kazan road safety programme increased by 20 million rubles
How the year is beginning on the roads of Kazan
The Executive Committee of Kazan approved the Road Safety Programme in Kazan for 2021. The passport of this programme was published on 4 March in the collection of documents of the City Hall.
According to the passport of the programme, in 2021, the city authorities want to reduce the number of people killed in road accidents to 49 people. In the previous year, the target was 56 people, and judging by the data published today, it was possible to do this: in 2020, 51 people were killed in 1,765 road accidents, 2,017 people were injured.
In general, according to the programme, injury rates have been falling since 2016 — it peaked at 2,372 victims. The total number of road accidents is also falling, from 2,092 in 2016 to the already mentioned 1,765 accidents in 2020. But the number of people killed in road accidents increased sharply in 2019, from 49 to 60 people.
Separately, the programme highlihgts the growing level of motorisation: if in 2012 the number of vehicles in Kazan was 307,663 units, then in January 2021, the estimated number is 454,836 units. For eight years, the increase in the fleet of vehicles was 47,83%.
Emphasis placed on ASUDD
In light of this, the main objectives of the programme are outlined — in comparison with 2020, they have not actually changed. This includes the promotion of intolerance to offenses on the roads, increasing the culture of driving, and the formation of children's skills of safe behaviour on the roads.
The programme also mentions the popularisation of small mobility programmes (in other words, bicycles, scooters, etc.) and the development of bicycle road infrastructure — as in 2020.
The list of activities of the programme has also not changed in comparison with the previous year. Among the planned activities, there are traditional actions and the placement of materials in the media, the modernisation of traffic lights and the development of an automatic traffic control system (ASUDD), the installation of fences, as well as the installation of road signs in places of concentration of accidents, patching and current maintenance of roads and their infrastructure, as well as the maintenance and development of urban parking space.
As for bicycles and other things, there is an information and propaganda campaign for the development of low-mobility transport, as well as specialised events. This paragraph also mentions the development of bicycle routes and bicycle rental points, as well as the construction of a network of bicycle paths and parking lots. However, for these purposes, the republican funds are not provided — it is assumed that all this will be at the expense of the city budget.
It should be noted that the amount of funding for the programme from the Tatarstan budget has increased from 43 to 63 million rubles. All additional funds, according to the programme passport, will be used for the modernisation of traffic lights and the development of ASUDD — now a budget of 50 million rubles is provided for this purpose.