In Irkutsk, city authorities and traffic police are seriously tackling taxi drivers who park at bus stops and block passengers from boarding. This forces buses and trolleybuses to stop in the road, causing jams and danger. Inspectors are already conducting raids and calling for tougher fines. New road signs are also being prepared to regulate public transport at stops.

The city administration and the traffic police of Irkutsk are seriously concerned about the situation on the city’s main thoroughfares. Yesterday, a raid was carried out at the places where taxi drivers park at bus stops for route buses.
"I think all city residents see the problem created on the streets by owners of passenger taxis," noted Sergei Chertkov, head of the city administration’s Department of Road Construction, Improvement, and Transport. "After all, they park their cars right in the pull-in bays for route transport, interfering with the stopping, unloading, and boarding of passengers. As a result, route buses and trolleybuses are forced to stop right on the road, which creates traffic jams and is far from safe for passengers. I think the traffic police will carry out such work every day".
Illegal parking by taxi drivers has appeared at many stops in the regional center. Only last year, traffic police inspectors issued more than 5,000 reports, and another 1,000 this year. But the situation is not changing. The fine for such a violation is only 100 to 300 rubles. A cab driver earns this amount on average for one trip. In the inspectors’ opinion, the punishment needs to be made stricter:
- If drivers know that for a violation a fine of 500, 700, or 1,000 rubles will be imposed. That is a day’s or half-day’s earnings for a taxi driver. I think he will not violate the rules.
According to Sergei Chertkov, the city administration has already completed work on producing road signs for city stops, which will show the stop name and route numbers, and each specific bus or trolleybus will stop only next to its own sign, which will make it possible to organize the operation of route transport.