Paid entrance to the territory of the city – "Golden Gate" to Astana

In a couple of years, the authorities plan to introduce paid entry to the capital of Kazakhstan. What has prompted this decision? Maybe it's another attempt to extract money from ordinary citizens in a seemingly legal way? Or is this measure simply necessary for certain benefits? Let's take a closer look at this issue.

Barrier or detour? What is the best way to get into Astana?

It's planned that paid entry to Astana will begin in 2020. We don't yet know what positive or negative effects this innovation will have and how it will impact car rentals in Astana.
All the details aren't known today, but there are plans for six paid entries from Astana located on the major transport arteries of the city:

• Nurgisa Tlendiev Avenue - Kostanay direction

• Korgalzhyn Highway - towards Korgalzhyn;

• Ondiris Street - Kokshetau direction;

• Alash Highway - towards Pavlodar;

• Karkaraly Highway - Kosshy direction;

• Astana-Karaganda Highway.

However, these are not the only routes leading to Astana. If you study the city map carefully, you will notice that there are still some loopholes for free entry. These are small country roads that bypass the city limits and intersect with the above-mentioned routes at a sufficient distance from the capital.
Should one use these loopholes? After all, if a driver does not want to pay for entering the city and chooses to take a detour, they will have to travel a longer distance and make a significant detour, meaning they will spend more time and fuel. Currently, the cost of entering Astana has not been determined. However, it is likely that it will still be more cost-effective to pay for entry rather than attempt to enter the city via a detour.

What objectives or benefits does the Akimat (local government) hope to achieve?

According to the Department of Transport and Development of Road Transport Infrastructure, the introduction of paid entrance to Astana will significantly reduce the load on the city's road network. After all, the number of cars that drive into the capital during rush hours will decrease by 30%. While this is a solid indicator, it is not clear in quantitative terms how much this will affect the situation.
There are 42 villages within a 30-kilometer radius of Astana that are connected to the city by road, and people from these villages commute to the capital daily. At the same time, there are about 75,000 vehicles on the roads every day, entering in the morning and leaving in the evening.
Let's assume that the paid entrance system is already in place and the cost is 100 tenge per entry. In one morning, the treasury will receive 7.5 million tenge immediately. This amount will increase to about 187.5 million tenge per month, excluding weekends. Or maybe the cost of entry will not be 100 tenge, but twice or three times more? Easily, the treasury would be enriched by half a billion! This is not even sick, and without any effort. It's like a "golden gate" to the capital of Kazakhstan.

Assistance with the search and work of collectors

However, in this situation, there is an obvious injustice towards residents of villages from the Almaty region. Why should they have to pay every time they visit the capital, especially when they work here? At the same time, residents of the capital do not pay a single tenge for visiting regional villages. Maybe it would make sense to make travel from the city paid as well?
This solution provides advantages for controlling the movement of vehicles. Let's assume that toll collection systems will be installed in other major cities in Kazakhstan. This will greatly simplify the process of tracking each specific vehicle. If a vehicle is wanted, its location can be determined immediately. The system will record that the vehicle left Almaty, traveled through Astana, and arrived in Karaganda, among other cities. This makes investigative work more efficient and easier. And if the system records that the vehicle entered a particular city but did not leave, it narrows the area of search significantly.
Such a system would be extremely useful for other important matters as well. For instance, in cases where a father fails to pay child support as prescribed by a court order, or only pays a small portion of it, claiming that he has no income and proving his minimum official salary, while in reality he is a highly successful entrepreneur who hides his income but leads an active and exciting life, visiting entertainment venues and driving around the country in a luxurious car.
In such a situation, it would be a good idea to seize the car of the person who owes alimony. At the same time, thanks to the paid entrance systems to cities, it will be easy to find the car. With proper authorization, it won't be difficult to take the car away from the owner, even if they are not present. If the person does not pay the full amount owed in a timely manner, their vehicle will simply be sold at an auction and the alimony debt will be taken from the proceeds. According to this same scheme, it's also possible to find tax evaders and bank payment debtors, which would greatly simplify the job of collectors.

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In order to create a well-functioning system of paid entry into Astana, a great deal of legal, technical, and socio-psychological work needs to be done. After all, the main goal of this initiative is not to collect money from drivers, but rather to encourage more people to use public transportation. Kazakh officials have said that when developing this project, they took the successful experiences of foreign cities like Stockholm, London, Bologna, Singapore, Edinburgh, and Milan into account. For example, the measure to restrict vehicle entry in Singapore has been incredibly effective. The number of cars entering the city center in the morning has decreased by 76.3%. While Singapore is undoubtedly a remarkable city, it may not be the best example for Russia. In Stockholm, the situation regarding this issue is indicative and correct. The city center is not overloaded with personal transport, and being in the center by private car is not cheap. However, before closing the entrance to the city center, the authorities invested a significant amount of money in the development of public transport. 100 billion Swedish kronor, approximately 10 billion euros, or 4 trillion euros, was invested. This amount is equal to the annual budget of Kazakhstan for 2017. In addition, the Stockholm authorities have held several referendums on local issues to convince the citizens of the benefits, significance and advantages of this innovative idea. Initially, the townspeople were not convinced, but later, everyone was pleased with the results. As a result of the changes, Stockholm's public transportation system can now be considered the best in the world. This is true because there are numerous alternatives to using a personal vehicle, all organized at a high level - from the large-scale subway system with hundreds of stations to buses operating as carriages. In Stockholm, all the funds allocated for public transport infrastructure development have probably been spent. It is too early to even think about implementing such a system in Astana at this point. If even a tenth of the current Stockholm system could be implemented here, that would be great. The main thing is that citizens need to know exactly when public transport will arrive, and that it runs regularly and in sufficient numbers (without overcrowding). If this is the case, people will not feel the need to use their private cars every day. One of the significant challenges that authorities will need to address is the provision of parking spaces in urban areas. Every day, a large number of people travel to cities, such as Almaty and Astana, where 250-300 vehicles enter Almaty and 75,000 enter Astana daily. To prevent excessive car traffic in city centers, officials must provide sufficient parking spaces, both guarded and free. Consider a parking lot for 100-300 cars, but it is unclear how this project could be implemented. While there are no issues with space, as the steppes of Kazakhstan are vast, security concerns arise. People will not want to leave their cars unattended in unguarded areas, such as near the Kalkaman microdistrict or Altyn-Orda market, for instance. These are just some of the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure a smooth flow of traffic and prevent congestion in urban areas. The idea of paid entry to large cities has its merits and potential. However, is at least one Kazakh city prepared for such an initiative? Are there sufficient buses that meet modern standards of comfort and quality? The primary goal of the transportation system in any large city should be to ensure convenient movement for people using public transportation, rather than private cars. Along with improving public transportation and implementing restrictions on car ownership, this issue can also be addressed through other methods. For instance, a carsharing service - short-term rental - could be developed. Additionally, creating incentives for individuals who voluntarily cooperate for city trips would be effective. In some countries, passenger cars with all seats occupied are allowed to use the public transport lane, as a privilege. Perhaps it's time for us to consider implementing such measures here too? Otherwise, reckless, unscrupulous drivers continue to use the public transportation lane with impunity. Try driving through the main artery of Astana - the central street of Abai - during rush hour. Often, these traffic jams are caused by these unscrupulous drivers, rather than by traffic that follows the rules. This is poor work on the part of the city's executive bodies.