The VARMSU strategic session on development of transport infrastructure was held at the National Centre RUSSIA
On July 25, a strategic session "Transport and Infrastructure" was held in the space of the National Centre RUSSIA as part of the "Municipal Dialogue" project organized by the All-Russian Association for Development of Local Self-Government (VARMSU) together with the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federatio.
The event was attended by representatives of federal executive authorities, relevant experts and heads of municipalities. During the session, key issues of development of the transport system and infrastructure were discussed. They included the prospects of road construction, road maintenance, the development of river transport and small-scale aircraft, solutions in the sphere of human resources, and ways of increasing the productivity in the industry.
Irek Fayzullin, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia, Irina Guseva, Co-Chairman of the VARMSU, and Artur Romanenko, Director of the Scientific Center of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, delivered welcoming speeches at the opening of the strategic session "Transport and Infrastructure".
"It is very valuable that you are so actively developing the format of meetings where you can share experiences, discuss common tasks and find solutions that really work for your cities, territories, and people. It's worth a lot," Irek Fayzullin said.
The main purpose of the event is to develop consolidated proposals for improving the regulatory framework in the field of transport, taking into account the interests of regions and municipalities.
"VARMSU unites experts and heads of municipalities who have unique municipal practices. The replication of such practices is important for solving the tasks of developing transport infrastructure in all municipalities of the country. The strategic session “Transport and Infrastructure” as part of the "Municipal Dialogue" project will become a platform for exchanging the experience and for development of agreed proposals, with regard to the real needs of regions and municipalities.
"In addition, mentors are now integrated into the work of the federal project team. They are recognized experts whose support and assistance will improve the quality of solutions and the effectiveness of project implementation. Together, we are creating conditions for the sustainable development of local self-government and a modern transport system," Irina Guseva emphasized.
VARMSU keeps on developing the "Municipal Dialogue" project, attracting experts as mentors to improve the effectiveness of the teams. Artur Romanenko, Director of the Scientific Center of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, became the mentor of the Federal Project Team "Transport and Road Activities".
"Representatives of municipal authorities are the closest to people. You are the first to face the challenges of the time and the demands of citizens. In our country, almost half of the population lives in cities with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants, and this imposes a huge responsibility on you. People evaluate the effectiveness of the entire vertical of power precisely by how municipalities and regions work. The quality of our citizens' life directly depends on how well the interaction among the municipal, regional and federal levels is built. Our task as part of the federal project team's work is to share experiences, chooce the best practices, work out the most effective solutions and unite for the sake of common results," said Artur Romanenko.
The attendees of the strategic session determined and analyzed key issues, and exchanged successful municipal practices, which will help them to develop effective and scalable management solutions, and to make proposals for improving the regulatory framework.
Speaking about road safety, Sergey Kiryushenkov, head of Kiyasovsky Municipal District of the Republic of Udmurtia, noted that modern technologies are being introduced in the region to improve the condition of the roads:
"In the Udmurt Republic, cold recycling technology is used on regional roads, which ensures the durability and resistance of coatings to heavy machinery and climatic conditions. For local roads, a gravel-sand-gravel mixture is used, which helps to maintain evenness and reduce trackage even at low traffic levels. These technologies improve the safety and quality of roads, which are important for transportation and everyday life of the population."
Yandex experts joined the discussion. At the meeting with the municipalities, key Yandex.Maps projects for urban navigation and the current infrastructure situation for individual mobility were discussed.
As Irina Guseva noted, mayors in several cities decided to ban electric scooters — these cities are are Blagoveshchensk, Yelabuga and a number of municipalities in Stavropol.
"The heads are primarily concerned about the safety of residents, because the infrastructure for the new type of transport simply cannot keep up with the growing number of electric scooters. Such decisions are justified. However, the problem needs to be solved comprehensively — not only bans are required, but also provision of conditions," Irina Guseva said.
Representatives of electric scooter rental operators and members of the Federal Project Team "Transport and Road Activities" exchanged experiences and collected proposals from different regions. Based on the results, there will be prepared initiatives for rental operators and appeals to the State Duma.
The "Municipal Dialogue" is a project of the VARMSU and the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. Its aim is to determine the problem field named by the municipal community and to find the solutions at the federal and regional levels.
Event photobank
July 30 is the last day of the expositions' work. A chain of final events will be held at the National Centre RUSSIA on this day.
