Moscow to have almost 500 official taxi parking areas - Sobyanin
MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Almost 500 official taxi parking areas will appear in Moscow, acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin went to the Mostaxi company on Thursday, toured its vehicles and talked to its employees.
"These places will be fixed and not deal with anyone else. We will soon place signs at 260 existing parking areas for taxis and then will make about 200 more, so Moscow will have approximately 460 official taxi parking areas," Sobyanin said.
Each parking lot will have the "taxi parking" sign which was not there before, the acting mayor said.
"Today, if the "taxi parking" sign is installed, then no one will be able to park in this place. Those, who will park there and are not a taxi, will be punished for illegal parking," Sobyanin said.
The majority of Moscow railroad stations already have special lines where official taxis can easily pick up or drop off passengers, Sobyanin said.
Approximately two-thirds of taxis in Moscow were illegal as recently as two years ago, while the number of official taxi drivers in Moscow currently exceeds 35,000 and will reach 40,000 by the end of the year, Sobyanin said.
"Essentially, what we promised heads of taxi companies and citizens has come true and it can be said today that legal taxis dominate the city," the acting mayor said.
