| Since yesterday, the center of Moscow has been closed even to Gazelles. Instead of a systematic solution to Moscow's transport problems, capital officials persistently continue to fight traffic jams in the city center exclusively with the help of fines and bans. As of yesterday, another restriction came into force in Moscow. In accordance with the resolution of the capital's government, entry into the Third Ring Road during the daytime is now closed to all trucks with a carrying capacity of more than 1 ton. That is, even those same small-tonnage Gazelles, which the city authorities advocated for quite recently, were banned.
Restrictions on entry into the city center for heavy vehicles remain unchanged. Let us remind you that today, in order to enter the center, the driver of any truck must obtain a pass with a number indicating its coverage area. Permission to enter the Garden Ring is given by the number “0”, entry to the Garden Ring is given by “1”, entry to the small ring of the Moscow Circular Railway is given by “2”. From December 1, another number was added to these passes - “3” - allowing entry into the Third Transport Ring.
Formally, passes are issued at the control and permitting department of the Moscow State Traffic Safety Inspectorate free of charge, but this does not mean that everyone will be able to get the right to drive around the capital even in a Gazelle. As Maria Protsenko, press secretary of the Moscow Department of Transport and Communications, explained to a Vremya Novostey correspondent, the issue will be resolved individually for each application from car owners. “The passes are being introduced not for the sake of the passes themselves, but in order to really limit the entry of freight vehicles into the center,” said Ms. Protsenko.
It is too early to judge whether the latest ban has had an impact on traffic jams; it is difficult to assess changes in the traffic situation in one day. Meanwhile, cargo carriers claim that the restriction on the entry of Gazelles into the Third Transport Ring will create great inconvenience for both small and large companies, which, under pressure from city authorities, barely managed to replace heavy-duty trucks with light-tonnage ones. Ultimately, all the costs of carriers, which the authorities advise to take a closer look at the less heavy-duty Sobols, will fall on the shoulders of consumers. And the costs of formally free passes will need to be taken into account. “Anyway, no one receives a pass through the official means; everyone pays intermediaries. A pass to the Garden Ring, for example, today costs 4.5-5 thousand rubles,” a representative of the Gruzoperevozka.RU company told a Vremya Novostey correspondent.
The mayor's office of transport and communications does not deny the existence of certain companies that act as intermediaries in issuing passes, but they are in no hurry to fight them. “In our country, all documents are processed strictly according to the law, and the fight against intermediaries is a matter for the Organized Crime Control Department, not the Department of Transport,” said Ms. Protsenko.
However, Gazelle drivers are no strangers to this. Yuri Luzhkov made the first attempt to introduce paid passes into every ring in Moscow back in the late 90s. For an annual pass for his car, a private carrier had to pay up to 50 minimum wages. True, in 2000 the prosecutor’s office prohibited the mayor from taking money for driving on public roads. However, since then new financial schemes have appeared, and there are more transport rings in Moscow. Alexander GUDKOV |
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