Zakir Pashayev (MBA 2016) THE WAYS TO IMPROVE THE TRAFFIC SITUATION IN BAKU

Background
Almost the half of Azerbaijan population lives in its capital. Obviously, this fact contributes to different social problems, and I would say the biggest and main problem of Baku is the traffic situation. So we can attribute to this term all means of conveyance (private vehicles, taxi, buses, subway, tram, etc.). Although the majority of people use the public transport here, every day we encounter with severe traffic jams on main streets and avenues. As the government and relevant organizations have not facilitated traffic conditions yet, both private vehicle owners and public transport users face with particular problems very frequently. The problem has a number of branches. To recognize all of them we should consider them separately.
Card System
Only several bus lines have applied the card system (see Picture 1) in their vehicles, whereas the drivers of the remaining portion of buses are still receiving coins from passengers. Doubtlessly, the card system would improve many negative features of buses. For example, if we use cards we will not have to contact with drivers, pass them money and wait for change. The project has been launched already, but has not been applied for all buses. Apart from buses these cards can be used for subway as well.

Picture 1

Timetables
Although there are approved routes for each bus line, people could not find them in bus stations’ monitor screens and moreover there are no available timetables (see Picture 2 for a typical bus timetable) near the bus stations. Thus, usually all bus users in Baku wait for their buses not knowing when it will arrive. Let’s imagine that there are timetables in all bus stations: people can easily plan their time and arrive to places at time, or they can use alternative ways of transportations if the arrival time of the bus does not satisfy.
Picture 2

Public Transport Lanes
In many cities there are public transport lanes (see Picture 3) drawn on roads, which can be used only by public transport vehicles. Unfortunately, we can’t brag with such facility yet. Absence of these lanes brings a lot of difficulties to both bus and taxi drivers and car owners. Recently there were drawn many lanes on roads for European Games (see Picture 4) and drivers became psychologically ready to not drive on those lanes, otherwise they would be penalized. This fact proves the drivers’ adaptation to drive with such kind of restrictions on roads. Public transport lanes are the solutions of many problems, yet it would be much better for public transport users to move in Baku without delays and traffic jams.
Picture 3 Picture 4

Subway Trains’ Conditions
The vast majority of Baku people tend to move by subway because of its almost accurate timetables, routes and traffic jam absence. In May, 2015 several new subway trains (see Picture 5) appeared to replace old ones. They have 30 more seats compared to old trains. Additionally, cooling and heating systems would help many people to cope with different weather conditions. Unfortunately, these new trains are not still enough to replace all trains with them. People are struggling with big crowds on subway stations. This reflects the deficiency of trains and unsuccessful subway routes.
Picture 5

Taxis
Typically, all taxi cars are specially designed for being noticed easily by passengers. There are several taxi companies in many cities that offer their services through the same car models with different advertising stickers on them. Undoubtedly, all of them must have counters of covered distance and price as a passenger can see them. In Baku even drivers can use their own cars as a taxi violating the rules. In this case there is no any price and distance counter in the car. Furthermore, there are not enough taxi stations (see Picture 6); therefore they can stop wherever they wish to pick up passengers. However, there are taxis designed as London’s ones (see Picture 7) which have qualified drivers and all necessary facilities. It is better to have one or two taxi companies serving passengers to avoid all potential problems emerging because of the illegal taxi services.

Picture 6 Picture 7

Pedestrians
To be honest, pedestrians of our city are not used to following traffic rules as well. First of all, crossing roads in non-allowed places puts people’s lives in danger. It is generally accepted that humans have to use crosswalks (see Picture 8) to cross roads. In addition, people had better to follow traffic light rules as well. I would recommend to increase the number of social ads regarding to abidance by traffic rules by pedestrians. Also, there should be severe penalties for breaking these important rules.
Picture 8

Bicycles
More than 90 percent of Baku people possessing vehicles tend to have cars. Even some people do possess two or more cars. Why we do not use bicycles instead of cars to get the needed place? In Europe and USA some people tend to drive bicycles more than cars. Firstly, this type of vehicle is the most environmentally-friendly one-it has no gas emission. Secondly, riding a bicycle is the kind of sport which we sometimes do at gym places. Thirdly, people using bicycles usually do not face with parking problems. One more significant factor is the price gap between bicycles and cars. But to promote this type of vehicle among Baku population the government needs to create separate lanes for cyclists (see Picture 9).
Picture 9

Conclusion
All these facilities have already been created in most European and American cities. Considering listed factors that would help to improve the traffic situation in Baku and the entire Azerbaijan, I would recommend The Ministry of Transport to gradually introduce and realize all these facilities in our country as well. Doubtlessly, there can be more factors than I listed, but these ones are the most important.