There are no more “manat” taxis running from Baku to Sumgait. Although the official body advises passengers to use regular routes, many say they are not satisfied with the situation in this area.
The operation of manat taxis on Tbilisi Avenue in Baku, in the direction of the 20 Janvar metro station, has been suspended. The reason is the construction of a bus lane in this area. As a result, vehicles obstructing traffic were removed from the area. This measure, which was taken to regulate traffic, caused great discontent among both taxi drivers and passengers. Some even claim that people could not get to their apartments on the road from Baku to Sumgayit because there were no manat taxis.
“Caspian” newspaper article on the subject.
“The taxi doesn’t give us this opportunity”
For example, a passenger living in the Saray area says that buses from the bus station only go to Sumgayit bus station, and those who stay in Saray and want to get off halfway suffer:
“In other words, we have to change several buses to get to the address, and that’s if we have the chance to get on. Both our money and our time are wasted. When the bus lane was built, a taxi rank should have been considered.”
In addition to the discontent, there are also many people who are happy with the construction of a new bus lane:
The situation on the territory of the “20 Janvar Metro” station was very chaotic. I think it is more profitable to take a bus from the bus station. Since there is a bus lane, we do not get into traffic jams and we get to the address faster. The taxi does not give us this opportunity.”
I wonder what alternative options are planned for passenger transportation in the known direction after the cessation of “manat” taxis.
Irregular buses caused serious traffic jams
According to information provided to our newspaper by the Azerbaijan Land Transport Agency (AYNA), random and chaotic parking of cars in the direction of the metro station “20 Janvar”, as well as irregular buses running from the capital, mainly in the direction of the city of Sumgait, caused serious traffic jams on this part of Tbilisi Avenue at any time of the day and hampered the operation of regular bus routes:
“By organizing a special lane on Tbilisi Avenue in the direction of the metro station “20 Janvar”, conditions have been created for public transport users to move comfortably, without obstacles and without additional loss of time.”
“119”, “135”, “525”…
The institution reported that there are regular bus lines from the vicinity of the metro station “20 Janvar” and the area called “Shamakhinka” to the city of Khirdalan and the Masazir settlement:
“Therefore, buses number 119 and 135 to Khirdalana and number 525 to Masazir pass through this area.”
Citizens who want to travel from the capital to Sumgayit can take advantage of the facilities of the Baku International Bus Station Complex:
“Comfortable express buses depart from here, connecting the bus stations of the two cities at intervals of 11 minutes to serve passengers. A special lane created on the Baku-Sumgait highway ensures comfortable and fast transportation of passengers. According to the analysis, the time taken by buses running on the highway to the last stop is 25-30 minutes. Citizens can leave by modern and comfortable “Neoplans” to get to Sumgayit faster.
You can go anywhere in Baku with these buses
AYNA reported that in addition to express buses, 21 buses serve passengers daily on regular routes in the direction of Baku-Sumgait:
“The final stop for buses departing from different areas of Sumgait city is Avtovazhal metro station opposite the Baku International Bus Station complex. Passengers can go to any point in Baku by bus from the Transport Interchange Centre in the area of the bus station.”
Residents say that they have to use an additional bus to get to the bus station from the “20 Janvar” circle, and even if they use it, it is impossible to get on the bus during peak hours of the day. As for the solution to the problem, transport expert Eldeniz Jafar says that one of the causes of the congestion near the roundabout in question was irresponsible drivers engaged in passenger transport:
“The bus segment of public transport has to wait there for a few minutes and gets stuck. One of the main reasons for this is some irresponsible drivers who are engaged in illegal transportation of passengers. They stop the car in the second and third lane of the road, block the road and obstruct the movement of other road users.”
Plain and simple rule
The expert believes that “manat” taxi drivers should legalize their activities:
“Those people would do well to pick up passengers in the parking lots and drop them off in the parking lots as well. Then there won’t be the chaos that we see every day in that area. This is a very simple and straightforward rule.”
It is known that the number of taxi ranks in Baku is not so large at the moment. Our interlocutor says that there are several objective and subjective reasons for this:
“Sometimes during the construction of the city there were irregular constructions, pedestrian sidewalks, roads and parking spaces were occupied by several people. Residential and non-residential facilities were built there. Therefore, it is almost impossible to create a parking lot for taxis in such an area.”
Some people see the root of the problem in the construction of new bus lanes. E. Jafar points out that the bus lane should be:
“This is established in the state road safety program.”
