Marshrutka

I want to tell you more about public transportation. In a way, it's great. It's more common and more accessible (unless you're handicapped) than in many American cities.

The most common ways to travel are on a bus, or a marshrutka. What is that? Well, a big van, full of very small seats, none of which have a seatbelt. The idea seems to be to fit as many people as possible inside, so seats are turned every which direction. There is often a pole running from floor to ceiling. If you are unfortunate enough to climb in when all the seats are taken, you and your drunken friends can just stand/scrunch under the ceiling and hold onto the pole until you reach your stop.

I have mixed feelings about the marshrutka. I appreciate its originality and functionality. It is uniquely Russian in the same way that no one, of any age, ever wears a seatbelt in a car. Ever. My decision to do so is viewed with the same shock as my insistence on drinking tea without sugar in it.

But, they're not very safe. I haven't had any problems, but there are stories of vans flipping over from carrying the weight of too many people. News stories actually comment on the safest place to sit on a marshrutka (behind the driver's seat).

Some pictures from others until I post my own.