Territorial structure of passenger road transport in Russia in 2000–2023

Abstract

The post-Soviet transformation of bus service and the development of personal automobile transport in Russian regions in 2000–2023 is considered. The analysis of this structure is carried out using the proposed methodology for determining the interaction coefficient, previously applied by the authors in studying freight, long-distance and suburban passenger railway transport. Due to the need for a conjugate analysis of passenger bus transportation and personal automobile transport, the work determines two interaction coefficients for the specified period of time, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient between them is then calculated. The choice of automobile transport is due to its dominant position in ground transport (buses) and its high dynamics in the post-Soviet period (personal cars). In most regions, the importance of public automobile transport has been steadily declining since the early 2000s. It is increasingly being replaced by personal automobiles, the availability of which has increased immeasurably. In a number of cases, both interaction coefficients under consideration decrease, indicating the socioeconomic degradation of much of the territory of such regions. In fact, Russia is repeating the development trend of developed countries — the simultaneous decline of bus services and the increasing importance of personal cars. However, in Russia, this trend has been uneven and geographically differentiated, which makes further analysis of this process necessary, especially given the increasing importance of motor transport in spatial development.