Road transport infrastructure as a factor of socio-economic territorial development and some aspects of its formation

Abstract

The size of the territory of the Russian Federation presupposes the existence and systematic implementation of a long-term program for the country’s spatial development, the main element of which is the transport infrastructure. The reorganization of the authorities performing the functions of managing the activities in the field of road transport and road facilities, and the development of strategies for the development of this sector was completed only in the first decade of the 21st century. The total length of transport routes is 1.7 million km, more than 90% of which are roads, which determines the importance of road transport and the development of road transport infrastructure. Automobile transport provides not only economic tasks (transports 68% of cargo), but also solves social issues: it increases the mobility of the population, ensures an increase in well-being (due to the creation of jobs), determines the level of quality of life, ensures territorial accessibility to recreational and healthcare facilities, culture, etc. Nowadays, the domestic fleet of passenger cars is almost 50 million units and continues to grow, but the age structure of the vehicle fleet is deteriorating. The main problems necessary for the implementation of the tasks and ensuring road safety are: expansion and modernization of the road network; provision of transport infrastructure with road facilities, in particular, with service stations in sufficient quantity; improving the quality of service for vehicles and a number of others.