Skip to main content

Moscow wins international transport award for tackling traffic gridlock

The city of Moscow has been awarded the International Transport Forum (ITF) 2016 Transport Achievement Award for its exemplary approach to improving traffic conditions in the Russian capital. Following twenty years of almost uncontrolled development of urban traffic, Moscow introduced a rigorous and comprehensive set of policies to address the gridlock on its streets. These included paid car parking, development of public transport, ticketing, car sharing and taxi reform, development of cycling and envi
May 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The city of Moscow has been awarded the 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) 2016 Transport Achievement Award for its exemplary approach to improving traffic conditions in the Russian capital.

Following twenty years of almost uncontrolled development of urban traffic, Moscow introduced a rigorous and comprehensive set of policies to address the gridlock on its streets. These included paid car parking, development of public transport, ticketing, car sharing and taxi reform, development of cycling and environmental requirements for trucks.

Over the past five years, these measures have reduced the number of cars in central Moscow by 25 per cent and increased the average speed of traffic by 12 per cent, despite 600 new cars being registered in the city each day.

In 2013, Moscow traffic was ranked as worst in the world by the 1692 TomTom Traffic Index; the 2016 edition has moved it to fifth place.

The ITF jury recognised the “impressive achievement in improving overall traffic in Moscow.” In particular, the jurors highlighted “the effectiveness of coherent, coordinated initiatives and policy actions that facilitated this remarkable change.”
UTC

Related Content

  • July 31, 2012
    Russia's high speed toll link - aims and opportunities
    Construction of a new toll link between the Russian capital of Moscow and the country's second-largest city, the port of St Petersburg, is due to start in 2012. Here, ITS International takes look at the project to date and the opportunities for foreign companies to get involved. The construction of a new toll link between the Russian capital Moscow and the country's second-largest city St Petersburg has a number of aims. It will lead to the creation of a high-speed vehicular link between the two which will
  • December 4, 2012
    ITS World Congress debates perceptions of enforcement
    The technical programme of this year’s ITS World Congress in Vienna includes a special session on the image of enforcement. ITS International examines the scale of the problem and what can be done about it. Debate on the merits and difficulties of enforcing speed limits appears centred on a conflict of principles. Put very simply, local communities, people living close to busy or hazardous roads, want to see traffic speeds calmed. Drivers on those roads, on the whole, want their principle of freedom to be m
  • November 23, 2012
    Report highlights ways to make roads safer for pedestrians
    A report released by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD highlights the role of national governments in improving pedestrian mobility and proposes twelve measures to create safer walking environments. The study, entitled Pedestrian Safety, Urban Space and Health, was prepared by a working group of transport experts and urban planners from nineteen countries and the World Health Organisation under the leadership of the ITF. The report comes to a number of conclusions, including the fact that
  • February 21, 2019
    Moscow is world’s most gridlocked city, says Inrix
    Moscow is the most gridlocked city in the world, according to a survey of snarl-ups by Inrix. The company’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard found that road users in the Russian capital lost 210 hours last year because of congestion. Inrix weights the data for population, and found that the next four cities on the congestion roll-call were Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil. Brazil had another entry on this unwanted list, with Rio de Janeiro in seventh place. Russ