The State Program for the Development of Road Transport for 2011-2015 has been approved in Belarus

December 28, Minsk /Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA/. The State Program for the Development of Road Transport for 2011-2015 has been approved in Belarus. The relevant decision is contained in Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 1886, BELTA was informed in the Office of the Council of Ministers. As reported by the Department of Road, Urban Electric Transport and Metro of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, commenting on the resolution, the new program provides for further improvement of the system of organization and management of road transport in Belarus, development of domestic road transport of passengers and goods, and expansion of foreign economic activity in the field of road transport. Special attention will be paid to the renewal of the bus and truck fleet. For these purposes, it is planned to allocate Br1.2 trillion in the next five-year period, including Br854.6 billion for the purchase of buses and Br350.7 billion for the purchase of trucks. About 3,000 buses and 2,200 trucks will be purchased with these funds. Additional measures will be taken to develop and optimize the route network of domestic regular passenger road transport. It is planned to increase the payback of suburban and intercity passenger transport. Foreign investments of $10 million are planned to be attracted for the purchase of vehicles necessary for international passenger and freight transport. The state program will also implement measures aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Belarusian carriers and expanding the domestic market of transport services. "To increase the share of export services from passenger road transport, it is necessary to ensure the renewal of the fleet of tourist-class buses and improve the taxation of carriers," the Ministry of Transport believes. The implementation of the program will allow by 2015, compared to 2010, to double the export of road transport services, or by $513.7 million, to reduce the import intensity of transport services to 21%, and to annually increase revenues from the provision of road transport services to the population at comparable prices by 1.1%. Operating costs for freight and passenger transport will decrease by 2% annually. Ecology will also benefit from the development of the road transport complex. Thus, emissions of pollutants from road transport with exhaust gases are planned to be reduced by 1-2% annually. The introduction of innovative technologies and developments in the industry will continue. These include systems and technical means for automated control of bus traffic on regular urban and suburban passenger routes, an automated system for monitoring, accounting and analyzing the performance parameters of vehicles, as well as an electronic ticketing system for passenger travel and baggage transportation by road. The new state program will improve the quality of road transport services and the competitiveness of domestic carriers in the international transport market.-0-