Next year, Almaty plans another incremental step in the development of its public transport infrastructure with the opening of a new station at Kalkaman. This should see the tentacles of the transport system shift towards the west of the city. In the future, there are also plans to extend the metro north to Alatau, where the government’s “smart city” is being developed.

Investment in public transport is welcome, particularly with vocal complaints from residents about ever-increasing traffic problems and their contribution to the city’s winter smog.

“The expansion of the metro is considered one of the key tools for improving the environmental situation in Almaty,” a spokesperson for the Almaty mayor’s office (or Akimat), told The Times of Central Asia. “Increasing the share of passenger transportation via the subway reduces the use of cars, decreases traffic congestion, lowers emissions, and contributes to improved air quality.”

The ambitious new metro project is in addition to over 600 new buses expected to be added to the Almaty Bus fleet this year.

But despite these schemes, the traffic problem shows little sign of abating. It begs the question: has the city got public transport priorities right?

New-look trolleybuses and electro-buses can be seen as part of Almaty’s modern fleet; image: TCA, Joe Luc Barnes

The rise of the automobile

“Traffic jams in Almaty began in the early 2000s, when the economic situation improved and people started buying cars,” Dauren Alimbekov, a high-profile blogger on Almaty transport, told The Times of Central Asia.

He adds that the privatisation of other forms of public transport exacerbated this problem.

The tram network was suspended in 2015 after two high-profile accidents, with the tracks being dismantled in 2017. Its disappearance coincided almost exactly with the arrival of ride-hailing services such as Yandex Go! in July 2016. By 2023, over 200,000 residents were moonlighting as Yandex Go! drivers to earn extra money.

“In recent decades, the city has been planned with cars in mind, with major thoroughfares such as Al-Farabi almost totally lacking in convenient pedestrian crossings,” said Alimbekov.

This influx of drivers has created problems. Private cars are a major contributor to air pollution in the city. On some days earlier this year, Almaty recorded the worst pollution in the world.

A lack of dedicated bus lanes slows journey times and prevents more people from using public transport; image: TCA, Joe Luc Barnes

Public transport

That is not to say that there is no public transport in the city. Indeed, the Almaty Metro is the only metro system in Central Asia to have opened since the collapse of communism. Trains began running in 2011, but they only travelled between an initial five stations. Two more opened in 2015, which saw a spike in passenger numbers. Today, there are eleven stations, although most of these remain along Abay Avenue, giving it little practical value to most residents.

The metro system does not connect to either of the city’s main train stations – Almaty-1 and Almaty-2 – nor with its major bus terminal at Sairan.

The metro stations in the center of the city are also inordinately far underground – Abay station is 78 meters deep, adding at least five minutes to journey times.

But despite these difficulties, passenger numbers have steadily grown. On September 2, the metro hit a new record ridership with 117,000 daily users, with daily averages hovering around 100,000.

While noting that some of the record-breaking ridership was due to the start of the academic year, the Akimat spokesperson believes that other factors are at play. “We have improved service quality in the metro – including reduced train intervals thanks to additional trains being put into operation. There is also a general trend of residents switching from private cars to public transport due to traffic congestion and rising costs of car ownership.”

The city also has a growing network of buses.

“If anything, there are now too many buses!” says Alimbekov. “The average age of the fleet is just 2-3 years old.”

He argues that the city’s leadership would be better off building, or expanding, dedicated bus lanes to speed up the journeys of these buses around the city. Journeys in the city cost a mere 120 tenge ($0.23), and the Onay! payment system is quick and easy to use, even for foreign visitors equipped with Apple Pay.

Controversial e-scooters have proliferated across the city; image: TCA, Joe Luc Barnes

There is a similar issue with scooters – there has been an enormous proliferation of e-scooters, which are quick, convenient, and popular, and could help serve to bring cars off the road.

However, these too are only served by a limited number of dedicated lanes, leading to many simply riding them on pedestrian sidewalks at dangerously high speeds.

E-scooter etiquette has ignited a furious debate among residents, especially as the police do not enforce legal restrictions to protect pedestrians. The problem has caused such public anger that even the president called on the police to be stricter in his State of the Union address in September.

The Metro Masterplan

Abay Station, Almaty Metro; image: TCA, Joe Luc Barnes

The Akimat plans to incrementally expand the scale of the metro. Right now, 3.1 kilometers worth of tunnels have been dug, which will take trains westward beyond the current terminus at Bauyrjan Momyshuly to a new station called Kalkaman, located where Abay Avenue meets Ashimova Street.

“Work on the station and tunnels is progressing at an accelerated pace: tunnel excavation is close to completion, and construction of the station is nearing its final stage,” said the Akimat spokesperson, adding that Kalkaman is scheduled for completion in “the first half of 2026”.

In the longer term, the extension plans are more ambitious, with new lines going towards Alatau Smart City via Mizam Market.

“A feasibility study is also being prepared for a new branch from Zhibek Zholy station to the airport,” said the Akimat spokesperson.

But Alimbekov believes that these growth plans are misguided. He says that the priority should be to develop the metro inside the city, rather than stretching it out towards the suburbs.

“The main source of traffic problems is cars owned by city residents, not people from the outskirts,” he said. “These people who arrive by metro from the suburbs in the morning, how will they travel within the city afterwards? There is no continuation of the metro network inside the city, only along Abay Avenue. This will create a huge passenger surge exiting at just two or three stations.”

He’s also sceptical as to whether any of these expansion projects can be completed on schedule. The extension to Bauyrjan Momyshuly station, originally planned for 2018, did not open until 2022.

“I don’t know why it always takes so long to build the metro here. Not once has a project been completed on time. So, my prediction is that this one, too, will be delayed.”

In the meantime, Alimbekov suggests simply making the city more pedestrian-friendly, given that metro and bus users are also pedestrians. He adds that better bike lanes would also help, with the added benefit of saving the city from problems with e-scooters. But in the main, he thinks that bus infrastructure would be the simplest and most cost-effective solution. “It doesn’t need to be anything flashy like the BRT [bus-rapid-transit] system they are proposing. For buses to run faster and on schedule instead of being stuck in traffic, they just need dedicated lanes throughout the city.”

The city is certainly willing to invest in infrastructure, but whether it will be effective or not remains to be seen.