Trolleybuses and trams in the urban public transport network of Russian regions: problems and prospects

Abstract

This study covers the problems and prospects of integrating trolleybuses and trams into the public urban transport network of the Russian regions, to the analysis of the relevant experience of individual cities of the world. As part of the implementation of the national project "Safe High-Quality Roads", the regions are financed to modernize the rolling stock of trolleybuses and trams, expand the network of routes, and create modern infrastructure. The study identified the problems of transition to electric public transport, typical for Russian regions and individual foreign cities. In most cities of Russia, the fleet of trolleybuses and trams has drastically decreased compared to the Soviet period, tram lines often interfered with traffic due to increased urban traffic and were dismantled, the infrastructure and rolling stock are worn out and do not meet safety requirements. Abroad, city authorities face other problems: equipping trolleybuses and trams with security systems that allow them to avoid collisions with pedestrians and collisions with other city transport, equipping rolling stock with on-board batteries with recharging while driving, creating low-floor models of trams and trolleybuses. Thus, the task of switching to electric public transport is common on a global scale, but the problems that the city authorities of Russian and foreign regions need to solve differ significantly.