Transport accessibility assessment in Ural federal district

Transport accessibility is one of the most important factors of social and economic development of regions. The level of regional development depends on the level of transport system development, transport infrastructure as one of its components, and the level of transport availability and accessibility. The level of transport availability varies in the regions of the Russian Federation. The purpose of this paper is to assess transport infrastructure development in the regions of Ural Federal District, which includes the analysis of quantitative indicators of transport infrastructure. The study uses general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, and correlation. The study of automobile, railway, inland waterway transport on the territory of the regions of Ural Federal District was carried out. The calculation is based on the following indicators: transport network density in relation to the territory, transport network density in relation to the population, Engel coefficient, Ouspensky coefficient, Goltz coefficient. The evaluation of spatial transport availability shows that Ural Federal District is characterized by an average level of transport availability, if compared with the calculations for the country. For the period from 2012 to 2021, the density of railways and inland waterways has not changed, while the density of roads has increased by 39%. The regions that are outsiders are the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which is mainly connected with geographical factors. Insufficient density of road and railway networks in these regions is partially offset by the developed inland water transport. The assessment of transport availability showed the need to improve the transport infrastructure. The indicators calculated in the analysis can be used to analyze and monitor changes in the transport availability of regions during the realization of infrastructure projects.