{"id":14878,"date":"2021-12-10T02:59:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T02:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=14878"},"modified":"2021-12-12T18:36:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T18:36:39","slug":"rush-hour-how-does-one-get-around-in-a-russian-provincial-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/rush-hour-how-does-one-get-around-in-a-russian-provincial-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush Hour: How does one get around in a Russian [provincial] city?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was driving home from work on the roads of my city, snow layered on thick and people driving significantly slower than they normally would, I thought of how the snow would never stop a Russian \u043c\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0440\u0443\u0301\u0442\u043a\u0430 driver, weaving in and out of traffic, zipping around corners, and stopping his machine dead in its tracks when someone would shout suddenly from the crowd huddled in the cabin \u201c\u041d\u0430 <\/strong>\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0301<\/strong>\u0432\u043a\u0435 <\/strong>\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0301<\/strong>\u0442\u0435, <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0436\u0430\u0301<\/strong>\u043b\u0443\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0430!<\/strong>\u201d Stop at the next stop, please!<\/em> As winter closes in on us and makes driving in any city miserable, I would like to tell you about some ways to get around a Russian city.<\/p>\n

I would like to note that I am going to describe these forms of transportation from the perspective of someone who lived in the \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0301<\/strong>\u043d\u0446\u0438\u044f<\/strong> provinces<\/em>. This does not accurately describe the situation that can be found in larger cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, or Novosibirsk, as these cities have large, extensive, well-funded transportation networks.<\/p>\n

\u0410\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0301\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This is the classic, boring way of getting around town. Every city in the world has them, and Russian cities are no exception. But one peculiarity of Russian buses is that you don\u2019t pay the driver. There is a person (usually a woman) called the \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0434\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440<\/strong> who comes up to you with a little card reader\/ticket printer and collects the fare from passengers. The \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0434\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440<\/strong> also has a special seat on the bus that is sometimes raised to a comically high level (usually it is built above the wheel well) and, posted above this seat is always a sign: \u041c\u0435\u0301<\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u043a\u043e\u043d\u0434\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430\u0301<\/strong>\u0442\u044c!<\/strong> Do not occupy the conductor\u2019s seat!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo by Leonid Altman from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

The cousin of the \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0301<\/strong>\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong>, what is known as \u0442\u0440\u043e\u043b\u043b\u0435\u0301<\/strong>\u0439\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong>, is just an \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0301<\/strong>\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong> except it has these little feelers that attach to a live wire suspended above the street, so they can only travel along a predetermined route. I can count the number of times I rode on a \u0442\u0440\u043e\u043b\u043b\u0435\u0301<\/strong>\u0439\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong> on one hand, so I remember very little, but my impression is that it is pretty much the same experience as riding on an \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0301<\/strong>\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u0422\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0432\u0430\u0301\u0439<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Once a common way of getting around in every city, in a lot of smaller cities they are now largely seen as a nuisance, with low passenger ridership. In many places they hold up traffic, which has gotten a lot worse since Soviet times, especially if they break down or get in an accident with a car. Just like a \u0442\u0440\u043e\u043b\u043b\u0435\u0301<\/strong>\u0439\u0431\u0443\u0441<\/strong>, they are attached to an overhead line.<\/p>\n

\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0440\u0443\u0301\u0442\u043a\u0430<\/strong><\/h4>\n

These are little baby buses that have largely pushed out other modes of transportation in most cities. The most common translation for the name of these speedy little boxes in English is \u201croute taxi,\u201d as they come from the word \u043c\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0440\u0443\u0301<\/strong>\u0442<\/strong> route<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The marshrutkas are usually packed full of people, especially at \u0447\u0430\u0441 <\/strong>\u043f\u0438\u043a<\/strong> rush hour<\/em>, as they are the most efficient way of getting around the city. You pay the driver directly by placing 20 rubles or so into their cupped hand. In the case that there are too many people on board, you pass your fare to the next person nearest to you and say \u041f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0430\u0301<\/strong>\u0439\u0442\u0435, <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0436\u0430\u0301<\/strong>\u043b\u0443\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/strong> Pass it [to the driver], please.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the lines are operated by private companies in a similar way to a taxi, the driver is usually free to deck out their marshrutka with colorful drapes around the windows and trinkets like hula girl bobbleheads. The driver also controls the music.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Alexandr Nikulin from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

\u041c\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0301<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A metro is the dream of a growing Russian city, but what determines which city gets one? It\u2019s difficult to say, but there was a commonly held belief in the Soviet Union that once a city became a \u0433\u043e\u0301<\/strong>\u0440\u043e\u0434-<\/strong>\u043c\u0438\u043b\u043b\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0301<\/strong>\u0440 <\/strong>a \u201cmillionaire city\u201d<\/em> \u2013 the population reached one million inhabitants \u2013 it was granted the right to build a metro. However, today there are many cities in Russia that have surpassed the million mark but have not built a metro. The most recent city to get one was Kazan\u2019 in 2005.<\/p>\n

Have you ever taken public transportation in Russia? What was your impression of it? What is your favorite mode of public transportation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

As I was driving home from work on the roads of my city, snow layered on thick and people driving significantly slower than they normally would, I thought of how the snow would never stop a Russian \u043c\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0440\u0443\u0301\u0442\u043a\u0430 driver, weaving in and out of traffic, zipping around corners, and stopping his machine dead in its…<\/p>\n

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