The expert said whether the tram could become an alternative to the metro

Traffic rules for trams are slightly different than for cars, despite the fact that they travel on roads that intersect with cars and pedestrians. And more often than not, rail transport has an advantage, but not always.

In most cases, cars should allow the opponent to pass. And yet there are cases when a tram must give way to a car:

at an intersection where traffic is regulated by a traffic light, if a rail vehicle is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow on the additional section, it must be turned on simultaneously with the yellow or red signal, and the car must move to the green light;
at an intersection where there is no traffic light, but there is a distinction between the main and secondary roads - a tram moving along the secondary road must allow a car to pass;
when a rail vehicle leaves the depot;
when encountering an emergency vehicle with beacons and a sound siren; when entering a roundabout intersection.

If a car and a rail vehicle traveling along perpendicular tracks meet at a controlled intersection, the latter sometimes has to wait. According to the rules, the tram is obliged to allow the car to complete the turn or pass through this zone if it has already begun the maneuver. And only then drive under the green light.

The tram must give way to a pedestrian in the following cases:

if a vehicle traveling on rails makes a turn, it must first let a pedestrian or cyclist pass;
if a rail vehicle is at a controlled intersection and the red light is on, you can go after the green one when people have finished moving;
if you approach a crossing without a traffic light or a traffic controller;
if a rail vehicle approaches a pedestrian crossing regulated by a traffic light;
if he sees a blind pedestrian (with a white cane) on the roadway;
if a person is in a hurry to a public transport stop, having just left such a bus or minibus;
if these are children who are walking across the roadway towards a vehicle with a “Transportation of Children” sign, the bus or car must be parked with the emergency lights on.

Which driver must give way to the tram:

a motorist, if the car and the rail vehicle are at a controlled intersection;
a motorist if his vehicle is traveling in the same direction as his opponent at an intersection of unequal paths;
a motorist, if he and a second participant in the movement find themselves at the intersection of equivalent paths, the trackless vehicle yields in any case, even when it itself approaches the opponent on the right.

The situations listed also apply to those who drive a motorcycle, moped, tractor, bicycle, or truck.

Also, the tram must give way if:

there is a railway crossing on its way, the first to cross it is a train, a locomotive or a handcar;
at a controlled intersection there are two rail vehicles of the same type - the one going right or straight has priority;
At an unregulated intersection of roads of equal importance, there are two trams; the one approaching the second one from the right must go first, but both rail vehicles must travel along the main road or in the same train along the secondary road.

What does the traffic regulations say?

Any relationships that arise between participants on domestic roads are certainly regulated by a central set of regulations called the Russian Federation Traffic Regulations. Therefore, all vehicle owners should periodically re-read the collection of rules, refreshing their memory of proper driving. Although in the said document, in principle, the term “tram tracks” itself is absent.

It must be additionally emphasized that the rails are not a priori considered a component part of the roadway, but are a separate element of the road. Such routes were not originally designed for the movement of other vehicles, so going there has clear taboos and transportation through them is stipulated by separate regulations.

Here the main law leads to the central recommendation - maximum comfort for others, which is legally reflected in clause 9.6, which states that driving is permitted on rails only in the same direction as the driver is moving. A similar scenario is acceptable when the remaining lanes are occupied and the adjacent clause 8.5 of the traffic rules is not violated at the same time. It is important to remember that at intersections with tram tracks, it is worth taking the right position.

According to standard rules, the driver has the right to use this zone to achieve his own goals only if the rails are on the left side of the roadway, in the same direction as the car. Another important condition is that the paths of this transport must be at the same level as the road.

U-turn, turn, overtake

On city streets you often have to cross tram tracks to make a U-turn, a left turn, or overtaking.

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A right turn from tracks located to the left of the vehicle is prohibited; it must be made from the extreme right position on the road.

U-turns and left turns on rails are permitted if the signs and markings allow this.

It is important to consider two points:

do not interfere with the tram, for this you will be fined 500 rubles;
on rails in the opposite direction, if possible, park the car perpendicularly, at right angles to the tracks, otherwise the fine is 5,000 rubles. or confiscation of driving license for up to six months, again for one year.

Overtaking on passing tracks is possible if there are no signs prohibiting overtaking, the movement of trams is not interfered with, and driving onto oncoming rails is excluded.

At intersections or straight roads with tram tracks, to overtake, turn or turn around, first of all, you need to be guided by signs and markings, priority issues, then monitor the position of the car on the section of road in the opposite direction.

The advantage of a tram on a road with tram tracks

It should be clearly understood that a tram always has a tangible advantage over other representatives of trackless options, except for 3 cases when:

Moves to the arrow active in the additional section in parallel with the red or yellow traffic light signal.
Approaches the intersection along a secondary road.
Leaves the depot.

The first point relates to the intersection of regulated areas, the second - to the movement of uncontrolled intersections, here is the third scheme - when a tram leaves a station where repairs were made, it must give way to any other means of transportation.

What do you need to know when approaching a tram stop?

Based on statistics, the most dangerous areas of the road, in the center of which tram tracks are located, are the stops, so the driver of the car needs to assess the situation in advance and decide: should he give way to the tram/pedestrians or not?

When a special “island” for waiting for public transport is not installed in the area in question, passengers wait for the tram to arrive on the sidewalk. And as soon as he arrived and stopped, citizens have the right to cross the roadway without fear, and drivers are obliged to brake to let them through. It is necessary to focus primarily on people, and not to monitor whether the tram doors are open.

When there is still a special “island” in the stopping area, future passengers look for transport there, and no other additional barriers to traffic should be created. When people are crossing the roadway, it is worth remaining vigilant, because not all pedestrians know and adhere to the traffic rules of the Russian Federation, but the driver is always responsible, since he is behind the wheel.

In what cases is it permitted to travel on passing tram tracks?

To begin with, it is extremely important to highlight clause 9.6 in the general collection of rules, which clearly defines suitable conditions that allow car drivers to move on rails:

the tram lane runs parallel to the curb on the left side of the road in the same direction of travel;
a detour is carried out to overcome an obstacle or due to road congestion (traffic jams, a huge number of other cars);
a situation where it is absolutely necessary to make a left turn or turn the vehicle around completely.

Regardless of the reason, which boils down to one of the mentioned schemes, while on a tram line, car owners should not deliberately (out of ignorance) interfere with other traffic participants: classic rules do not allow occupying the tracks without a good reason.

What about oncoming rails?

It is worth immediately noting for all drivers that in this case, when turning, “oncoming traffic” is not allowed, so this situation falls into the category of strict prohibitions. Considering that, according to the rules of traffic rules of the Russian Federation, a U-turn is a full-fledged type of maneuver that changes the movement of traffic in the opposite direction, then you need to remain as careful as possible here. In practice, the oncoming lane can be used before or after the turn, but not directly during the maneuver itself.

It is necessary to note that when you are at an intersection where the rails change direction, such a ban is duplicated to any extent: it extends its effect to tram tracks with a bend, and the border between the intersection and the exit is quite ambiguous. Therefore, drivers should cross oncoming traffic only when it is possible to achieve a maneuver angle as close to 90 degrees as possible.

If we compare a U-turn at a controlled intersection and outside a given area, then in these situations, driving onto oncoming tram tracks is strictly prohibited according to Russian traffic rules.

At the crossroads

Analyzing the context of domestic traffic requirements and the very concept of “intersection” at various levels, specific cross-traffic through overpasses or tunnels is invariably implied. Even in paragraph 9.6. the term “level” should be taken literally when access to the rails is not limited and the coverage in the said area coincides with the condition of the roadway or differs only to an insignificant extent.

Thus, road designations 5.15.1 or 5.15.2 impose significant restrictions on transportation through the intersection along tram tracks. Here the driver must move to the lane before the exit to comply with all the recommendations of the signs located on the road.

In order to navigate through an intersection with nearby tram tracks without serious mistakes, you need to clearly understand which road the main traffic is on (main or secondary) , and whether it is regulated in a special mode.

When a certain intersection is controlled, the order of passage is determined solely by the characteristic signal of the installed traffic light. A driver planning to turn left or make a detour must certainly give way to the tram, as well as cars moving towards or to the right.

When a traffic light has an additional section in the format of an additional arrow, in a direction parallel to the activation of the yellow and red signals, then drivers of cars and trams are required to give way to vehicles moving on the other side. When the traffic controller allows a tram and a car to travel at the same time in the absence of the flashing arrow mentioned above, then the tram has advantages over the car, regardless of which route it follows.

In some situations, where the owner of the vehicle does not have the opportunity to figure out which road he is on, due to night time or difficult weather conditions, and there are no priority markers at all, he can drive the car, believing that he is driving on a secondary route. movements.

When allowed

Traffic regulations clearly interpret tram tracks in the opposite direction as an oncoming traffic lane known to every motorist.

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Accordingly, the driver of a trackless vehicle is prohibited from driving onto tram tracks in the opposite direction, except in specially specified cases:

When making a left turn, U-turn, unless signs prohibit it. At the same time, on rails in the same direction, the trajectory of movement can begin smoothly, go diagonally, gradually moving more and more to the left, but on oncoming rails the correct trajectory will resemble a right angle. The driver must stand on the oncoming rails perpendicular to them, allowing the flow of cars to pass. If the position of the car does not form an angle of 90 degrees (or approximately) on the oncoming rails, the traffic police inspector will perceive this as movement in the oncoming lane and has the right to confiscate the driving license.
When making a detour around an obstacle, if it is impossible to do so in your direction. The reason cannot be a traffic congestion or a stopped public transport, if it does not have hazard warning lights on and does not have a warning triangle posted.

Avoiding an obstacle, turning around tram tracks outside the intersection and making a left turn are three conditions when a vehicle may end up on the rails of the opposite direction.

In what cases must a tram give way?

Sometimes circumstances on domestic roads are such that lack of time forces some drivers to make rather dangerous maneuvers. Although the standard rules in the updated version allow driving straight along the tram tracks when there is a traffic jam on the common road for ordinary cars. But at the same time, certain conditions must be observed:

The driver’s actions must not create unforeseen interference with the adjacent movement of the public tram.
The rail bed must adhere to the same direction and be exactly level or only slightly deviate from the road.
It is allowed to drive when there are no signs in front of the intersection 5.15.1. “Direction of transportation along lanes” and 5.15.2. "Direction of movement along the lane."

However, if special road markings (a solid line or any other designation regulating the directions of driving along the lanes) do not interfere with access to the rail tracks, then the driver can cross the section of road traffic in question without obstacles.

To the car

Theoretically, in almost any situation the tram moves first, and there are only 3 exceptions to the general rules if:

the car is driving along the main road, and the tram is driving along the secondary road (this situation is 100% subject to the rule that the driver is obliged to give way to someone moving on the main road);
the vehicle can move freely due to the green traffic light signal, and for the tram only a single-color arrow functions in parallel with the red or yellow signal;
the car is moving along the road, and the tram car is just starting to leave the depot (this scheme was also mentioned earlier and is a kind of exception to the general rules).

Having carefully understood in what situations a tram gives way to another car, problems and emergency situations in traffic should not arise a priori.

Pedestrian

According to the rules, there are many situations when a tram driver must give way not only to other cars, but also to ordinary pedestrians, if:

The vehicle following the rails makes a turn, then it must begin to let a pedestrian or cyclist pass in front of it.
The tram has entered a controlled intersection, then after the green one you can only go when people have completely stopped moving.
You are approaching a special crossing zone without an installed traffic light or traffic controller.
Rail transport approaches a pedestrian crossing controlled by other devices.
A blind citizen (pedestrian with a white cane) is visible on the roadway or on the way to it.
A person hurries to a stop of another public transport, having just left a bus or minibus.

Separately, it is worth considering such a problematic area when there are children crossing the roadway with a “Transportation of Children” sign, and the bus or the car receiving them should be no less noticeable due to the included emergency lights.

Is there an alternative to the metro?

It most organically lends itself to isolation and prioritization in the flow and can be transformed into the most comfortable version of the service for the passenger, when part of the journey proceeds in fact in the mode of a commuter train, part of it in street urban transport (which follows regardless of traffic jams) and, finally, completes the journey in pedestrian zone where other types of transport are prohibited from entering. Motorists are most willing to switch to a truly modern tram when they realize the reliability of its service and the comfort of riding: rail transport is the only one where you can read on the way without risking your eyes.

It is this set of properties that has served as the basis for a real renaissance of the “street railway” in cities in Europe, North America and Asia, where 14 new tram systems have already opened in China alone over the past two years. The policy of eliminating tram lines in favor of expanding roads for cars in the world has finally become a thing of the past, and when turning from destruction to reconstruction at a new technological level, the biggest winners were those cities where the “old” systems were preserved at least to some extent.

St. Petersburg was very lucky in this regard: from the once extensive track infrastructure, after the “pogrom” of 1997-2007, almost two-thirds of the length of the lines were partly miraculously preserved, a significant part of which has already been put in order, and the rest will have to be put in order in the coming years. True, the most “affected” center, which in modern systems is the main “generator” of passenger flows in light rail transport systems, is still neglected in our country.

A kilometer of modern tram line with infrastructure costs from 200 to 500 million rubles

I would like to hope that this is only for now.

Because certain sections of the network, destroyed due to the same emotions a couple of decades ago, have already been announced for restoration. Of course, the most correct approach would be to expand this geography of the Renaissance, especially since the available calculations using a mathematical model show significant potential for demand in this part.

A kilometer of a modern tram line during construction or reconstruction with all the accompanying infrastructure costs from 200 to 500 million and has been “in work” for a year. A kilometer of the metro, which can, of course, carry up to 40 thousand per hour (in fact, in St. Petersburg there are not many unserved places where such power is really needed) is ten billion, and construction drags on for years and decades. Operating a kilometer of metro line per year costs taxpayers approximately 200 million, a kilometer of a very intensively operated tram line costs 20-30. The numbers are highly aggregated, but speak for themselves.

When must a driver give way to a tram?

Any driver intending to make a left turn and cross the tram rails is required by law to act in the following way: make sure that no one is on the tracks (trams or other cars), then turn on the desired turn signal and only then enter the desired line. Next, you must give way to others and complete the maneuver.

When in the process of driving there is a road sign indicating the direction of driving along the lanes (5.15.1 and 5.15.2), this pattern is allowed to be repeated only on the side left side of the roadway, and you should not drive directly onto the tram line. Even clause 8.11 fixes versions when it is impossible to deploy in this way. Considering that this ban on driving on rails is not duplicated, it is permissible to make a U-turn at an intersection where tram tracks intersect.

Moreover, the turning trajectory is also reflected in clause 8.5 of the same recommendations: any manipulations by the driver are similar to repeating a turn while crossing a tram track. If there are direction signs, the turn occurs from the far left side of the road. But it is worth remembering that, based on the turning radius of the vehicle and its dimensions, you need to start in your calculations from the far right part of the lane (curb).

Fines for violation

The law of the Russian Federation clearly establishes the legal liability of road users for offenses in this area, therefore, for an accident that occurs on tram tracks, the driver is entitled to administrative and criminal prosecution:

According to Article 12.24 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, there is a fine of up to 25 thousand rubles. or restriction of freedom for up to 2 years;
according to Art. 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for sanctions of up to 9 years (depending on the consequences of the incident).

In turn, an attempt to enter the path of an oncoming road entails a liability of 5 thousand rubles. or deprivation of rights for up to six months under Part 4 of Art. 12.15 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. And if the driver does not drive onto the side left side of the rails while making a planned left turn, he faces a simplified option - a simple warning or a fine of 500 rubles. according to Part 1.1 of Art. 12.14 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

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Punishment will also follow for downtime (causing a traffic jam involving a tram) due to obstruction: in this case, a warning or financial liability in the amount of 500 rubles will be imposed. referring to Part 3 of Art. 12.14 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. But when, during the passage of a controlled intersection, a similar obstacle was also created to the tram, which has the right of way, then more serious sanctions of 1 thousand rubles are provided. according to Part 2 of Art. 12.13 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Road accidents

In an accident on tram tracks, there are two possible scenarios:

If there are only cars among the participants, the collision occurred on the rails.

Here, the analysis of the incident occurs in exactly the same way as if the accident happened on an ordinary road. A traffic police officer assesses the location of the car, analyzes the situation - who is the culprit, obstacles, etc. The issue of oncoming and passing directions on the tracks is resolved in accordance with traffic regulations (by signs, markings, location of rails).

If the participants were a tram and a car.

In such an accident, both the car and the tram may be to blame, it all depends on the nature of the collision.

The tram driver is guilty in the following cases:

when passing through an intersection, he started to move at a prohibitory traffic light;
drove out of the depot area and did not give way to a car;
went off the rails and hit a car.

What are the penalties for expired licenses?

In all other cases, the driver of the car is to blame.

Road accidents on tram or railway tracks (at a crossing), or stopping on them have their own unpleasant characteristics. Thus, additional sanctions may be applied to the culprit - the ministry or regional transport department has the right to recover lost profits from him (money that could have been earned during downtime).