In January-February 2010, cargo transportation by vehicles made up 28.8 million tons of cargo or 4.5% more than 2009. The cargo turnover increased by 2.2 percent.
The private sector share in cargo transportation was 72.0% due to efficient operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
The passenger transportation during the reported period totaled 205.6 million people, which is 2.6 percent more than January-February 2010. In this case, 85.3 percent of passenger transportation was provided by the private sector. Passenger transportation by automobile was 84.5 percent, metro - 14.1 percent.
In 2010, automobile transport took the lion share in the transport field of the country. The cargo transportation by vehicles made up 13.2mln tons of cargo, or 6.5% more than the same period of 2009. Passenger transportation comprised 175.6mln people with 96.8% people using buses and 3.2% people vehicles. During the reported period, cargo turnover by road transport grew by 7.2 percent compared with January-February last year, while passenger traffic rose by 8.3 percent.
One of the reasons for the growth of road transport is improvement after the reconstruction of the road.
In January-February 2010, the Azerbaijan State Railway Department (ASRD) transported 3.1mln tons of cargo, an increase of 3.3% compared to 2009. The number of loaded carriages made up 643 in average and unloaded - 401. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 31,700 tons and in western direction - 2,600, but in the southern direction - 2,800.
The cargo shipping via sea rose by 4.5% to 1.9 million tons in January-February 2010. The transportation of the Kazakh oil played its role in the increase in the cargo transportation. According to the data provided by the Caspian State Shipping Company, about 450-500,000 tons of oil are transported from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan per year. About 250,000 tons of oil were transported by Chevron Company.
About 73.0 percent of cargo shipping fell on oil and oil products, while 27.0 on dry cargo. All cargo deliveries were implemented under the international operations. The volume of cargo processed in Azerbaijani ports was 1.5 million tons in January-February 2010, or 94.9 percent more as compared to last year figure. As of March 1, 2010, 5,500 tons of cargo left in the ports for import, which is 57.1 percent more compared to last year.
In January-February 2010, the export via oil pipelines made up 7.6 million tons. During this period, ¾ part or 3.0 million tons of oil was transported via the BTC (data provided by the State Statistics Committee).
Transportation via gas pipelines made up 3.3bln cubic meters or 9.3% more than 2009. The major reason for the growth is the export of the Azerbaijani gas to the foreign markets. 26.6% of the transported gas fell on South Caucasus Pipeline. About 833.7 million cubic meters of gas was transported via this pipeline.
In January-February 2010, the passenger transportation via airways fell by 31.6% to 114,700 people, including 29.4% implemented by private sector. Greater part (70.6%) fell on public sector. Private sector transportation increased 4%, but public sector transportation fell 24.0%.
Metro remains the most popular and profitable modes of transport. The Baku Metro conveys 550,000-560,000 passengers per day on average. It conveys around 700,000 passengers on working days. In January-February 2010, 29.0mln passengers used metro services or 18.4% less.
In January-February 2010, 4.1mln tons of cargo (an increase of 28.1%) and 18.5mln passengers (a rise of 2.2%) were transported via the Eurasian corridor.