Transport communications in socio-cultural space of the region

Transport infrastructure is both a technical and communication system. It connects space, time and man, forming ideas about space-time, which gives an opportunity to consider it in socio-cultural terms. The system of transport communications plays a special role in maintaining the unity of a region as a socio-cultural territorial community, as it determines conditions of socio-economic development of a territory; format of settlement and self-organization of the population, its social well-being; region’s place in the system of inter-regional relations, and specifics of intra-regional interactions. The aim of the work is to consider transport communications in socio-cultural space of the Astrakhan Oblast on the basis of the analysis of scientific literature, statistical information and sociological monitoring results. The article shows that the system of regional transport communication as a component of its socio-cultural space is transforming nowadays, manifesting itself in deteriorated quality of roads, abolition of river, tram, trolleybus traffic, reduction of passenger rail transport, significant drop in the share of municipal bus traffic in public passenger traffic. This leads to transformation of the patterns of space-time perception by region’s residents. The role of air and personal road transport to meet residents’ needs requires a separate study. At the same time, the increase in satisfaction with public transportation in the region by 2016 indicates socio-cultural characteristics of the population, which has already adapted to life without river trams, trams and trolleybuses. The level of social claims of Astrakhan Oblast residents is reduced: low safety, aesthetic appearance of taxis, capacity of the transport system of the regional center, lack of organized parking places, etc. are ignored. At the same time, from the first wave of the monitoring to the third we observe a decrease in the share of people fully satisfied with public transportation and an increase in the share of people who choose the answer “rather satisfied”, which may mean a change in attitude to the regional transport system activities in the near future.