Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IPMI) studied the attitude of residents of the city of Tashkent to traffic jams.

Traffic congestion has become a serious problem for most major cities in the world. According to Inrix, due to traffic congestion in London, the driver spends an average of 156 hours of extra time per year, in Chicago - 155 hours, in Paris - 138 hours.

Traffic congestion is also a serious problem in the city of Tashkent. According to the Statistics Agency, the number of cars owned by individuals in the capital amounted to 562,100 units in 2022, or 178 cars per 1,000 residents.

In order to study the attitude of the residents of the city of Tashkent to traffic congestion and proposals for their reduction, a social survey was conducted in the course of the study. It was attended by 891 respondents, 60.8% of whom were car drivers, including 10.3% - women.

The results of the survey revealed the following:

1. 41.8% of respondents who said they do not drive a car use the bus, 27.5% - metro, 24.1% - taxi, 1.7% - minibus, 4.9% - walk. It was revealed that women (33.1%) and young people (36.5%) use public transport, men (33.1%) use personal transport.

2. 74% of the surveyed residents of the capital noted that they consider traffic congestion one of the urgent problems, 21% - a problem of an average level, 5% - less urgent than other problems.

3. Passengers in buses and minibuses suffer the most from traffic jams. 82.9% of bus users, 83.3% of minibus passengers identified traffic congestion as one of the urgent problems of the capital.

4. 62.2% of the respondent named driver indiscipline, violation of rules, incorrect parking as the reason for the formation of congestion, 57.6% - poor quality of roads, 46.8% - trips to study, 41.2% - trips to work.

5. Respondents indicated that, first of all, it is necessary to regulate traffic at the intersections of the Small Ring Road (136 reviews), Bunyodkor Avenue (106 reviews).

6. 41.8% of the respondents answered that they plan more time on the road, 39.1% - go on roads where there are no traffic jams, 16.9% - expect a decrease in the flow of cars, 2.2% - do not go on the road.

Among the opinions most often noted are proposals for improving the infrastructure of public transport (buses), the correct placement of parking lots, the construction of multi-storey car parks, pedestrian underpasses and bridges, the expansion of metro lines, ensuring strict enforcement of traffic rules, the transition to digital control.

The resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 16 February 2023 also envisages the reform of the public transport system. According to this document, it is planned to purchase 700 buses running on natural gas and 300 electric buses for public transport in the city of Tashkent. By the end of March this year, 110 buses and 150 electric buses are expected to be delivered from China. These efforts, along with solving the problems of traffic congestion, will have a positive impact on the environmental situation in the capital.