Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited bus depot No. 7 of the Toshshahartranskhizmat joint-stock company.

Every issue related to the daily life of the population is under the constant attention of the state. In particular, in connection with the growing demand, the public transport system is developing.

In recent years, the city of Tashkent has grown larger. The number of permanent and temporary residents, tourists and students has increased. If earlier 800-900 thousand passengers used public transport in the city, now this figure has exceeded 1 million 300 thousand. Therefore, there were problems such as shortages and long waiting times for buses.

On 13 December, the head of state visited bus depot No. 18 of the capital, where he personally got acquainted with the state of affairs and instructed to bring new buses and create comfortable conditions for passengers. Based on this, on 16 February, a resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to reform the public transport system” was adopted. During the current visit, Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the implementation of the assigned tasks.

In April-May, 755 modern buses were delivered to the city of Tashkent, they were put on routes with the largest passenger traffic. As a result, the daily number of buses reached 1400, 9 additional routes were opened. In the coming days, another 245 buses will be brought.

In particular, bus fleet No. 7 has served 90,000 passengers per day on 18 routes so far. Recently, its fleet was replenished with 67 new cars. Naturally, the capacity of passenger traffic has increased, and the interval of bus traffic has decreased.

Responsible persons reported on the updated Transport General Plan of the city of Tashkent. It was noted that it was developed on the basis of an analysis of the expansion of the city and passenger traffic, and includes 167 routes. On 17 of them, the procedure for determining the daily plan was canceled, with this the routes were transferred to the system of calculations based on the distance traveled. In June-July, the remaining 150 routes will also be transferred to these systems through tenders. As a result, the regularity of trips will be ensured and the quality of service will improve.

Equally important is the qualification of drivers. In this regard, training and retraining of drivers has been launched at the Transport University and other educational centers. The salary of bus drivers has been doubled, more than a thousand drivers have been hired since the beginning of the year.

The head of state stressed the importance of establishing high-quality bus service, gave instructions on streamlining the fare system, digitalizing traffic management and improving conditions at bus stops.

- New buses, of course, created additional conditions for passengers, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev. – The next task is to reduce traffic jams and ensure the free movement of buses. The ultimate goal is to increase public transport coverage in Tashkent to 2 million passengers.

The President got on the bus and drove along the route along with ordinary passengers.