Uzbekistan is considering fines for driving in lanes designated for public and special transport (ambulances, fire brigades, etc.). This is provided for by the bill approved by the Senate at its March 17 session. The bill now needs to be signed by the president.

The Senate’s Defense and Security Committee chairman Kutbidin Burkhanov said that the problem of traffic jams on the streets was becoming one of the most pressing, especially in Tashkent.

According to him, over the past two to three years, the intensity of traffic jams in Tashkent city has reached 7-9 points daily, sometimes increasing to 10 points. This leads to stressful and conflict situations, and also forces passengers and drivers to spend a lot of time on the road.

To reduce traffic jams and popularize public transport, the number of buses in Tashkent has doubled over the past two years, to 1,959. Thanks to the creation of bus lanes, the bus wait times has been reduced by half on average, to 16 minutes. The daily passenger bus trips in the capital has reached 1 million people.

However, loopholes in the legislation prevent the efficient use of public transport and the regularity of traffic, the senator pointed out.

Despite the fact that the movement of other vehicles on dedicated lanes is prohibited, drivers ignore the rules en masse. They also freely leave their cars on these lanes.

According to the Traffic Rules, drivers can enter a dedicated lane only in places marked with a broken line to make a turn, as well as to board and disembark passengers, if this does not interfere with the movement of public transport. Until now, there was no fine for violating these rules.

In the proposed new Article 128-7 of the Administrative Liability Code for driving on bus lanes, drivers will face a fine of 1 basic calculation unit (375 thousand soums). A repeated violation within a year will entail a fine of 3 BCU (1.125 million soums).