Over 1 billion tons of cargo transported by road in Uzbekistan in 2017
By Kamila Aliyeva
Over 1 billion tons of cargo was transported by road in Uzbekistan last year, which is 3.7 percent more than in 2016.
In turn, the figure for the transportation of passengers exceeded the mark of 5.5 billion people, thus showing an increase of 2.3 percent. In general, the freight turnover amounted to 13.6 billion ton-kilometers, passenger turnover - 117.1 billion passenger-kilometers.
Speaking at a press conference in Tashkent on March 14, Deputy Chief of the Uzavtotrans Agency Shaalim Shavakhabov said that “when comparing the performance of road transport for the last ten years, the number of passengers carried in 2017 increased by 1.24 times, and the volume of freight traffic - in 1.4 times.”
All this happened thanks to the opening of new routes not only inside the country, but also beyond its borders, he added.
“Road transport is an important component of modern infrastructure. Its sustainable development is one of the main factors of economic growth and integration of the republic, improving the living standards of the population. The convenient location, developed logistics and high transit potential allow the country to achieve much in the field of road transport,” Shavakhabov said.
The official also added that today, a number of benefits have been adopted to create conditions for business entities engaged in road transport in Uzbekistan.
So, for example, the authority to issue licenses for the right to carry out long-distance transportation of passengers and goods is transferred to the territorial offices of the agency. Three types of licensed activities for road transport were eliminated, the procedure for reissuing permits for transportation were simplified. Entrepreneurs received the right of long-distance transportation of goods under a license with the right to international transport.
Special attention is paid to traffic safety on the roads. To this end, Uzavtotrans inspectors constantly monitor pre-trip technical inspection of vehicles and medical check-up of drivers. According to the Interior Ministry's traffic police, this allowed to reduce the number of accidents last year by 2.2 percent: with fatal consequences - by 1.5 percent and with varying severity - by 1.7 percent.
In late 2017, Uzbekistan proposed to develop and adopt a unified program for the development of transport communications for the countries of Central Asia. According to the Uzbek side, this will make it possible to use the transit and logistics potential of the region more efficiently and ensure the advanced development of the transport infrastructure.
---
Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz