Tashkent seeks to double public transport use to reduce traffic losses

The report highlights several major challenges affecting urban mobility, including traffic congestion, road safety concerns, environmental pollution, and the limited attractiveness of public transport.

Growing population and rising traffic pressure

Currently, about 5.2 million people move around Tashkent every day. This figure includes 3.2 million permanent residents, 1.5 million daily commuters, and around 500,000 temporary residents.

The capacity of the city’s main roads – consisting of 81 streets with a total length of 472 km – is estimated at 400,000 vehicles per day. However, the actual traffic load is nearly double that level, reaching about 770,000 vehicles daily.

Overall, residents and visitors make approximately 11.2 million trips per day across the city. Of these:

• 3.6 million trips are made on foot
• 7.6 million trips are made using transport

Among transport trips:

• 60% are made by private cars
• 35% by buses
• 5% by personal mobility devices

Authorities aim to expand public transport use

The Tashkent city administration aims to increase the share of trips made by public transport from the current 30–35% to 60–65%, bringing the city closer to international standards.

To achieve this goal, authorities plan a significant expansion of both bus and metro services.

Planned measures include:

• increasing the number of buses from 1,897 to 3,161
• expanding routes from 168 to 280
• raising daily passenger numbers from 1.5 million to 3.4 million

The city also intends to expand the Tashkent Metro:

• the number of metro cars will increase from 345 to 895
• metro line length will expand from 71 km to 103 km
• daily ridership is expected to rise from 1 million to 2 million passengers

Safety, pollution, and congestion concerns

Officials identified several serious consequences of the current transport system.

Road safety remains a major issue. In 1,225 traffic accidents, 90 people were killed, including 49 pedestrians.

Traffic congestion is another pressing problem, with average congestion levels reaching 7–10 points on the city’s traffic scale.

Environmental impacts are also significant. Transport emissions generate about 3,000 tons of PM2.5 particles per year, contributing to worsening air quality.

The report also notes growing transport inequality, as residents without private cars face limited mobility.

Overall, these factors result in annual economic losses estimated at $343 million, equivalent to 1.27% of Tashkent’s gross regional product.