Development of tourist routes through the prism of spatial distribution of road density in the central federal district

The purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative assessment of the density of paved public roads in the regions of the Central Federal District (after CFD) in order to identify territorial imbalances in transport infrastructure. Based on official data from Rosstat for 2020–2023, the method of ranking regions by road network density (km/1000 km2), as well as the method of point- rating assessment for grouping subjects by the level of road infrastructure development, was applied. The results of the study revealed a significant differentiation: the maximum density is the Moscow region (849 km/1000 km2), the minimum is the Kostroma region (139 km/1000 km2). Using the point rating method, 3 groups of regions were identified with respect to the density of paved roads per 1000 km2: the high level (2 regions, with the exception of Moscow) – values of 111.32 % and 82.2 %, respectively, higher than the average for the Central Federal District in 2023 (401.76 km/1000 km2), the average level (6 regions) – indicators in the range of 6.49 % – 52.44 % of the average, low level (9 regions) – lagging by 25.58–65.4 %. The results of the study can be used when planning interregional tourist routes, to justify investment programs for the development of the road network, as well as as an indicator of the transport accessibility of territories.