Residents of Almaty continue to propose ideas on social media to reduce endless traffic jams in the city. One of the ideas is reversible traffic during peak hours. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Reversible traffic means that in the morning, some lanes work in one direction, and in the evening, in the opposite direction. In the discussion, citizens' opinions were divided. Some believe the innovation will not be effective. Others are interested in this idea.
"It would definitely help, because in the morning there are traffic jams in one direction, in the evening in the other," one user wrote on Threads.
"It would help temporarily, then traffic jams would be everywhere. Only limiting private transport and developing public transport will solve the traffic jam problem," other users believe.
Kursiv LifeStyle asked the opinion of urbanist and former head of passenger transport management Dauren Alimbekov.
"Inside the city, reversible traffic will not work effectively. Bus lanes will be many times more effective. At the entrance to the city, reversible traffic can be done, because there the flow is clearly expressed in the morning and evening," the expert is convinced.
According to him, in urban conditions it is difficult to allocate more than one additional lane for reversible traffic. If the same lane is allocated for buses, its capacity will be many times more effective, because buses carry much more passengers than private cars.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported how to reduce traffic jams in Almaty, provided that the number of cars in the city does not change.
Despite the active discussion of the idea among citizens, experts doubt its effectiveness inside the city. Instead, they propose developing bus lanes and limiting the use of private transport.
Dauren Alimbekov noted that reversible traffic can only be useful at the entrance to the city, where the flow of traffic is clearly expressed in the morning and evening. Inside the city, it is difficult to allocate an additional lane, and bus lanes can be more effective.
The Almaty akimat is also considering various measures to combat traffic jams, but it is not yet known whether the proposals of residents and expert opinions will be taken into account.
Thus, the idea of reversible traffic is being discussed, but experts believe that comprehensive measures are needed to solve the traffic jam problem, including the development of public transport and limiting the use of private cars.