Almaty will remove the dedicated public transport lane on Sain Street starting August 31, 2026, according to infohub.kz.
The city administration said the pilot project has concluded, and its results will be used to develop a unified priority scheme for buses on key city thoroughfares.
The dedicated lane on Sain was launched on June 20 as a trial to assess its impact on public transport speed on one of Almaty's busiest roads.
Monitoring showed that buses did become faster. During the morning rush hour, average speed increased from 26.2 to 31.8 km/h, and in the evening from 25 to 30.4 km/h.
Headways also decreased: over the full day, they dropped from 13.6 to 12 minutes, and during the morning peak from 13.6 to 11.6 minutes.
Passenger flow grew by about 5%, from 42,400 to 44,500 passengers per day.
The administration believes the pilot confirmed the effectiveness of public transport priority. However, the city now wants to move from isolated dedicated lanes to a unified system.
Sain Street is to be part of a comprehensive scheme linking Al-Farabi Avenue, Sain Street, Ryskulov Avenue, and the Eastern Bypass Road. On this route, public transport is planned to be given priority.
To achieve this, other parts of the network must first be prepared and existing regulations amended.
Earlier, the administration expected the dedicated lane to help streamline traffic and improve road safety. However, after its introduction, motorists complained about long queues and cars driving into the bus lane.
Recently, a conflict between drivers on Sain ended in a brawl.
After the necessary infrastructure and regulatory framework are prepared, priority movement on Sain Street is planned to be restored as part of the unified comprehensive scheme.