Shall we go to Rybatzkoe?
In St. Petersburg the number of water routes will be increased. Nizhny Novgorod shipyard and St. Petersburg Marine Carrier LLC MBC are going to establish production assembly in the city to implement the concept of development of water passenger transport. The governor stressed that production of boats at in the city will improve the economics of the project. Experts note that the construction of the shipyard would be economically justified only if a stable capacity utilization.
The concept of water passenger transport has been developed by the Government of St. Petersburg two years ago to improve the transport accessibility of the city and reduce traveling time. The Committee on Transport and Transit Policy held a competition, the winners have organized the first regular water routes in addition to existing routes from the center of St. Petersburg to Kronstadt and from Kronstadt to Lomonosov – from the Park of Culture and Leisure to Arsenal Embankment and from the hotel “Moscow” to the Bronze Horseman.
New form of transport, called Aquabus, has gained popularity among citizens and the guests of the northern capital. Small speedboats run with interval of 10 - 15 minutes. The cost of "travel" is 50 rubles, which is almost 10 times less than the cost of walking on a commercial excursion boat.
All boats are equipped with satellite navigator system GLONASS. In the near future the system will allow passengers to observe the movements of ships through the Internet and to evaluate the arrival time of vessels at all piers.
The Governor Valentina Matvienko said at the working meeting: “It's very comfortable and popular form of transport - from one end of city to another, from the pier at the Park to the Smolny embankment for 12 minutes. It takes much more time by car or by transport. I am sure, we’ve made right decision implementing aquabus. We should take all advantages of the city”.
The Governor has also announced that the program of development of water passenger transport will continue. Next year they plan to extend two existing routes: the final stop of the hotel "Moscow" will be moved to Rybatzkoe - this is the first water route serving the sleeping area. In addition, there is a plan to open two new routes.
Carriers are ready to order and build new ships. So Nizhny Novgorod shipyard EK Marine, which manufactures boats Hitek 85 C, and St.Petersburg carrier MBC company are going to establish production assembly in St.Petersburg. The companies plan to invest in half. The city, in turn, will consider the allocation of land for a new venture. Valentina Matvienko stressed that the production of boats "on the spot" will reduce their costs, increase return on traffic and generally improve the economics of the project.
Experts positively evaluate the production of boats in St. Petersburg, but note that the essential question remains about the workload of future capacity. According to Oleg Prokofiev, chief specialist of the Association of Shipbuilders of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, need for development of water transport is obvious: urban highways are narrow and can not cope with the increasing workload. "There is need for small size boats. However, the construction of the shipyard is extremely difficult question; upgrade or convert old is much easier”.
Oleg Kanaev, Commander of boat club "Petrodvorets" believes that the transfer of production from Nizhny Novgorod to St. Petersburg would bring the city tangible pluses: new work places. In addition, service boats, deployed on the routes will be much faster and more efficiently. However, it still is an issue payback.
According to the Governor, water taxi will also appear in St.Petersburg. It can be ordered by phone. This new commercial service is being worked out as well as calculation of tariffs. The Governor ordered the Vice-governor Yury Molchanov and the Chairman of the Committee on transport-transit policy Nikolay Asaul to analyze the results of the first navigation so next year they could significantly expand the program.
According to Oleg Kanaev, the city must develop a structure of mooring pontoons and improve a specific regulatory system for boats. Appearance of new routes and water taxis will exacerbate the problem of water traffic. There is another problem – refueling small boats. There is only one gas station.
No city could be compared with St.Petersburg by the number of rivers and canals. There are about 100 rivers, creeks, more than 20 channels within the city. The total length of rivers and channels is about 300 miles.
Sergei Yakuhin
http://vkrizis.ru/
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