At the Smart City forum in Europe in September, Almaty received the highest award in the Future of Cities category for comprehensive reform of the transport system.
In 2018, 50 of the world's best practices and innovative projects for the development of «Smart Cities» were announced for the competition, among which Almaty took the first place. The top three also included - Ankara (Turkey) with the tourism project «Ankara Park» and Zagreb (Croatia) with the application «Return of residents to the Sava River.»
The Smart City Forum has been held since 2011. Over the years, the winners of the competition were Vienna (Austria), Belgrade (Serbia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Ankara (Turkey), Podgorica (Montenegro), Budapest (Hungary), Tirana (Albania). As you know, last year Almaty took the second place among the countries of Southeast Europe for the Open Almaty project.
Transport reform in Almaty has been implemented since 2015. The Committee of the Competition noted the systematic approach in its implementation on a number of criteria: diversity and accessibility of public transport, the use of digital technologies to ensure transparency of public transport revenues, the participation of experts, citizens and businesses in the implementation of the reform, including through mechanisms, as well as the emphasis on improving the environment.
The Onay e-ticketing system was introduced in 2015 and helped to identify 59% of «shadow turnover«. At the moment, 97% of all transactions on public transport are carried out by non-cash means. An automated control system with GPS system and video cameras on buses has been introduced. As for the quality of service, a system of fines has been introduced when subsidizing carriers for complaints from passengers.
Since 2012, there is a system of photo and video recording of traffic violations, 709 lanes are monitored. The city has 17 BRT routes, provided 5,000 parking spaces. 110 km of dedicated lanes and one-way traffic on 10 central streets have been introduced for high-speed bus traffic. The renewal of the bus fleet this year will reach 77%, of which 40% - at the expense of private funds.
The falcon Euro Bus is one step towards improving the environment. Third-generation electric buses, which have no analogues in the world, will replenish fleets in Kazakhstan and will be exported to Russia and other countries near abroad. The plant was built at the expense of private funds. The construction of two metro stations continues. By 2021, the commissioning of two additional stations up to Kalkaman micro district will connect the city center with the suburbs.
A bicycle corridor has been formed from the orbit to the Green Bazaar with a length of 21 km. The length of bike paths has been brought to 68 km. On average, 15,000 Almaty Bike users drive about 5,000 km each day.
The city authorities are working with cutting-edge international experts to shape approaches to the implementation of transport reform. Among them are Gail Architecture experts on the modernization of public spaces and pedestrian streets, UNDP on the Sustainable Transportation Project, A.S. Transproject and Systra for the Comprehensive Road Scheme and the Canadian-American company HATCH to develop the Almaty Master Plan Concept. According to the forecasted data of experts, the number of people using public transport in Almaty should grow fourfold by 2033, the number of pedestrians and cyclists - 3 times. At the same time, the number of personal vehicles will remain at the current level - less than 600 thousand cars.
