From Moscow to Kazan in 6.5 Hours: Putin Opens Traffic on Toll Section of M-12 Highway

Russian President Vladimir Putin, via video conference, launched traffic on a section of the M-12 "Vostok" highway. The broadcast of the ceremony was conducted by the Kremlin's press service.

The length of the M-12 section from Moscow to Kazan is 810 km, built in three years. The new highway will reduce travel time from 12 hours to 6.5 hours.

One of the first to travel on the new highway in his personal Aurus was the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. During the trip, Minnikhanov assessed the quality of the road surface. He made several stops to check gas stations and traveler's rest stops.

About the M-12 Highway and the "Free Flow" System

The M-12 highway is a toll road. The cost for passenger cars on the section from Moscow to Kazan is 4481 rubles, for freight transport — 9926 rubles.

The "Free Flow" system, which uses computer vision technologies, will collect tolls from drivers. It provides a throughput capacity on the highway 25 times faster than its counterparts.

Initially, "Free Flow" was implemented on the Central Ring Road (ЦКАД), where the system was trained on more than 100,000 frames and processed millions of transactions from drivers. As a result, it became accurate in recognizing the type of moving transport, and the error rate decreased.

Advantages of Launching the New M-12 Section

The M-12 "Vostok" highway is part of the "Russia" transport corridor. According to the government press service, after the launch of traffic:

・the volume of cargo transportation to the Urals will increase to 50 million tons,

・mortality and injuries due to traffic accidents will decrease,

・85,000 new jobs will appear,

・the effect from tourist flows will increase

The construction and reconstruction of other major infrastructure projects are also associated with the M-12, including the Moscow High-Speed Diameter, the highway from Arzamas to Nizhny Novgorod, and the bypass of Tolyatti.

Opportunities for Travelers Heading to Kazan

For the convenience of drivers, various services are provided on the M-12. These include multifunctional areas with rest areas, cafes, and toilets. There are also four integrated filling stations. In the future, travelers will be able to stay in a hotel that will be built in the Arzamas-Diveevo-Sarov cluster.

Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are responsible for safety on the highway. Thanks to computer vision, they recognize what happened and send data to the control center. After that, an emergency commissioner's car arrives at the scene of the accident within 15 minutes.

Earlier, Yandex launched a new function of the mapping service. Now, Yandex Maps will show drivers sections of toll roads indicating the cost of travel on them.