"Currently, 'A strips' are not working, there are two problems" — deputy mayor
The deputy mayor of Tashkent for transport and road infrastructure said that camera surveillance will be launched in test mode on some "A" category roads. According to Baxtiyev's words, the sidewalks have been adapted to GOST requirements up to this point. "Preparations have been made, all work has been carried out. Now there is an opportunity to fix it at the legislative level. We can 'launch' it," he said.
On March 12, a press conference on the activities of the Road Traffic Organization Center (RTOC) was held at the Tashkent City Administration. According to officials, the center’s “90-day urgent program” also includes plans to organize “A-lane” bus corridors on 347 km of city streets. However, the bus lanes that have already been created are not functioning as expected, and violations are not being properly recorded.
Deputy Mayor of Tashkent Abdurakhmon Bakhtiyev clarified several issues related to this situation. According to him, installing a single camera alone is not enough to solve the problem.
“Currently, we are launching surveillance cameras in test mode on one or two streets. I cannot recall the exact date; we discussed it yesterday. First of all, we selected 100 km of roads, about 60–70 percent of which will be ‘A lanes’, also called dedicated lanes, and we intend to separate them accordingly.
Of course, for these lanes to function properly, they must comply with GOST standards. There are exits and entrances from neighborhoods along these roads. First, those areas must be corrected and the lanes brought to normative standards.
The second issue is that cameras have already been installed in many places. Together with the Interior Ministry, locations are being determined. We plan to organize camera monitoring for every dedicated lane.
Initially, we want to test this system on one or two streets. There is an installation process and a need to connect everything to servers. There are many technical issues. Simply installing a camera does not complete the task. As far as I know, preparations have been made and everything necessary has been done. At the legislative level, there is already an opportunity to record violations, we just need to launch the system.”
Bakhtiyev also stated that the ineffective operation of some public transport lanes is mainly due to two key problems.
“Some ‘A lanes’ are working well, while others are not. There are two main reasons for this. First, in some places they do not meet GOST standards. For example, when vehicles exit from neighborhoods, they can obstruct buses.
The second reason is that drivers of private cars sometimes enter the lane, thinking they can move faster when necessary. If we solve these two issues, the lanes will start functioning properly,” he said.
It is worth recalling that in March 2025 the Senate discussed penalties for drivers who enter bus lanes. According to the proposal, driving in lanes reserved for public transport may result in a fine equal to one basic calculation amount. If the same violation is repeated within one year after an administrative penalty, the fine increases to three times the basic calculation amount (1,125,000 UZS).
