Here is a first-person account from Washington, DC native Courtney, whose understanding of transportation completely changed when she moved to Moscow.
I live in Washington, DC. I do not have a driver’s license and I certainly do not own a car. Yes, it’s hard sometimes, but what many people don’t understand is that I like the bus and Metro. I enjoy that quiet time to myself. I enjoy supporting such an important resource for our community.
However, it is no secret that there is much to be desired in the Washington, DC region’s public transportation networks. I didn’t fully understand what good and reliable public transportation looked like until I lived in Moscow for a year.
I have had two experiences living in Moscow, once as a student and once as an English teacher. Initially, I wanted to study their art and language, so I enrolled in a summer intensive language course. My program included studying at Moscow State University for five weeks. To get to class from the dormitory, we took the trolley, and to get everywhere else, we took the metro. That’s already two modes of public transportation daily (not to mention their respective intricate maps).
“Moscow’s metro exceeded my expectations and met expectations I didn’t realize I should expect.”
It was intimidating; however, I was confident. Growing up in DC, I was used to our Metro system. Thankfully they function the same – know your stop, know your line, know your direction, and know your transfers. Beyond that, there are no similarities. Moscow’s metro exceeded my expectations and met expectations I didn’t realize I should expect. With very little practical Russian language experience, I was able to master the metro quickly. In addition, their entire network of public transportation is easy to use, readily available, and meets the needs of commuters. Moscow, to most, isn’t synonymous with exceptional public transportation, but it should be.
Moscow Metro: the people’s palace
Offered to the population of 13 million with a density of 8,537 per square kilometer are a fleet of buses, suburban trains, trams, taxis, car sharing, bicycle rentals, and newly improved city parking. However, it is their metro system that surpasses the rest of the city’s public transportation.
For less than a dollar, one can go any distance on the map, wait only two minutes for the train, and have air conditioning and free Wi-Fi. If you luck out and score the newest model train, you get all that plus more space and better noise insulation.
The most amazing feat of Moscow’s metro system, besides minimal wait times, is how beautiful the stations are. Here is the kicker: each station is a unique work of art symbolic of Russia’s pride and history. With each new station visited, it was like walking into lobbies of grandiose hotels or historic mansions.
Opened in 1935 and built like a proud work of art, Moscow’s metro stations are incredible. The older stations are “modest,” with simple high ceilings and marble. The stations built later are more characteristic of Russia’s history.
For example, Dostoevskaya is named after the author Fyodor Dostoyevsky and depicts a scene from his work and a portrait of him (pictured below). Some stations are even designed in a decadent Russian baroque style and others are a sleeker Art Deco style.
Most recently, stations are focused around simplicity and efficiency – like Rumyanstevo (pictured below).
Architectural historian Nikolai Vassiliev, on the subject of Muscovites and the metro today, said, “For today’s typical Metro user, the modern stations prevail as the standard image of the system. The historical stations, however, still play a very special role in the city’s image, like its Stalin-era skyscrapers and pre-Revolution tenements, churches, and mansions.”
In contrast to the old metro stations and trains, the new apps and websites available are very modern and user-friendly for even English speakers.
Ease of Information
There are many apps at your fingertips from Yandex, a major search engine company in Russia. It provides apps like Transport, which covers all services pretty accurately. Taxi is the simplest taxi ordering app I have used. Maps is great for walking as it accounts for all the smaller and less-known streets. And Metro allows you to tap on your station and where you want to go. For example, I lived at Techstilschiki and, at one point, my doctor was near Smolenskaya. These were my options:
If I didn’t want to cut through the center of the city to change lines, I could go up and over. The time difference between the options is so small because every line has trains arriving every two minutes.
Different modes of transportation were compatible with each other, too: switching from a bus to metro to trolley was clearly explained. Then when the World Cup came around, I saw even more maps displayed, signs to the stadiums, clearly labeled stations, and volunteers available to speak different languages. There were even stickers telling tourists where to stand to get the best photo of the station.
What helped this influx of people navigate and disperse around the city was the newly opened Moscow Central Circle. If it weren’t for this new line, football (soccer) fans plus the daily Muscovites would’ve all had to travel through the heart of the city.
Expansion and growth
Previously there was one circle line connecting all the lines, Line 5, with only a few transfer points beyond that per line. Considering the number of people during rush hour, these stations were incredibly congested. Nineteen million trips per day are made with public transportation in Moscow. Sixty-eight percent of people use public transportation to get to work and 40 percent of people work toward the center of the city.
The new circle line created to disperse this traffic is called The Moscow Central Circle, Line 14, launched September 2016. At 54 km and 31 stations, it allows passengers to transfer well before the center of the city. Not only has it helped traffic, but these stations are accessible to those with limited mobility. Besides the much needed Moscow Central Circle (MCC), in the last eight years, 73 new stations have been added. This dedication from Moscow public transportation authorities is why their metro is called the people’s palace.
Coming home to not the people’s palace.
In Moscow, I lived 45 minutes from work with the metro. Every day it was always only 45 minutes. To drive would have been 13 miles in 25 minutes, but honestly, I never met anyone who drove to work. The street traffic was notoriously bad, and unreliable compared to the very reliable metro. Besides, there was no way I was going to get a Russian driver’s license before an American one.
My Moscow commute was a short walk to the metro, a 30-minute ride, then one quick transfer between lines and a short ride. All I had to do was walk across the platform to switch lines. For 90 days, I paid 2,400 rubles – $36.09 – for a Troika card, which covered buses, trams, and trolley buses.
Back in DC, I live 90 minutes away from work with the Metro and bus. I have to get a ride to the bus station, take a bus, and finally the Metro. This totals $15.50 every day. I also work weekends in DC, when the transit service is less frequent than on weekdays.
Bus and Metro schedules are poorly synced, so any delay could leave me waiting anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes with a real risk of being late for work. I could drive the 36 miles in 45 minutes, but DC morning traffic can easily double that – and cost me the same amount of time as my transit commute.
I was only in a personal car twice during my time in Moscow. In Russia, I took buses, trams, trolleys, taxis, metros, long-distance trains, and planes. My disdain for owning a car and driving was no big deal in Moscow or to most Europeans I met. Here at home, I struggle with expensive taxi services, long wait times for a bus or Metro, constant delays, and the disapproval of not driving.
There is a stigma around not being an avid driver. When I was 20, someone asked me how I expect to have kids without a car. My time in Moscow shows that this doesn’t have to be a problem.
Main photo of a metro station in Moscow by Martin on Flickr’s Creative Commons. All other photos by the author.