There are 5 forms of public transportation in Krasnodar: the trolley (троллейбус), the tram (трамвай), the bus (автобус), the shared taxi (маршрутка) and the regular taxi (такси). While I've been in all of them at least once I mainly use the first 4 depending on where I have to go.
So for those not familiar with public transportation a trolleybus is a bus that is connected to some overhead wires and a tram (or a streetcar) goes on tracks. Trolleybuses uses the roads like the shared taxis and the buses.
So you may be thinking what is a shared taxi? I still have no idea even though I've used them many times. The thing is the shared taxi (маршрутка which is short for маршрутное такси which means routed taxi) either comes in the form of some van looking thing or a minibus. One way you can tell is the fare as shared taxis cost a couple rubles more than the bus, the trolley, or the tram (as of this posting, 17 rubles for the tram/trolley/bus, shared taxi is 19 rubles though there is the rare route that has 17 rubles). Another thing about the shared taxi is you have to let the diver know when and where you want to get off. Trams, trolleys and buses stop at every stop. If you want to get off at some point you either yell "на остановке!" or if you're going to get off at the next stop "на следующее". The first one is a bit easier to say if у-ю-щ is hard to say. You can also add a пожалуйсте to be polite. (Edit January 2016: The prices for public transport went up some time mid-December 2015. Prices as of this update are 20 rubles for the tram, trolleybus and bus, 20 rubles for marshrutki that were19 rubles, and 18 for marshrutki that were 17 rubles)
One thing I like about public transportation here is how to pay for your ride. There is a person called кондуктор (it translates to conductor but the person who drives the trolley/tram/bus is called водитель) who collects your money and gives you a ticket in exchange. The best part is you don't need exact change. Got 20 rubles? No problem, you'll get 3 rubles in change to save up for your next trip. Got 50 rubles? No problem, you can cover a friend (even if your friend happens to be luggage) or you can pay for yourself so you can get change for your next trip. If you think that's old school there is a tap card system but that doesn't work with the shared taxis (you pay the driver in this case). Also another drawback to this system is you have to pay for each leg of your trip. Need to change from one tram/trolley/bus/taxi route to another? You gotta pay. Going from tram to marshrutka? You gotta pay. Still it's cheaper than regular bus fare back home for me (at this posting $3.55 which lasts for 1h30 minutes along the bus and O-Train routes).
Not sure what else I can say about public transportation in Krasnodar but if you got a question then feel free to ask. Enjoy this video of a guy who got on to play his guitar:
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| A shot of 3/5 forms of public transportation found in Krasnodar: The tram with two cars, the trolleybus in blue, and a minibus (which could be a marshrutka (shared taxi, though technically means routed taxi) or a bus) in front of the trolleybus. |
So you may be thinking what is a shared taxi? I still have no idea even though I've used them many times. The thing is the shared taxi (маршрутка which is short for маршрутное такси which means routed taxi) either comes in the form of some van looking thing or a minibus. One way you can tell is the fare as shared taxis cost a couple rubles more than the bus, the trolley, or the tram (as of this posting, 17 rubles for the tram/trolley/bus, shared taxi is 19 rubles though there is the rare route that has 17 rubles). Another thing about the shared taxi is you have to let the diver know when and where you want to get off. Trams, trolleys and buses stop at every stop. If you want to get off at some point you either yell "на остановке!" or if you're going to get off at the next stop "на следующее". The first one is a bit easier to say if у-ю-щ is hard to say. You can also add a пожалуйсте to be polite. (Edit January 2016: The prices for public transport went up some time mid-December 2015. Prices as of this update are 20 rubles for the tram, trolleybus and bus, 20 rubles for marshrutki that were19 rubles, and 18 for marshrutki that were 17 rubles)
One thing I like about public transportation here is how to pay for your ride. There is a person called кондуктор (it translates to conductor but the person who drives the trolley/tram/bus is called водитель) who collects your money and gives you a ticket in exchange. The best part is you don't need exact change. Got 20 rubles? No problem, you'll get 3 rubles in change to save up for your next trip. Got 50 rubles? No problem, you can cover a friend (even if your friend happens to be luggage) or you can pay for yourself so you can get change for your next trip. If you think that's old school there is a tap card system but that doesn't work with the shared taxis (you pay the driver in this case). Also another drawback to this system is you have to pay for each leg of your trip. Need to change from one tram/trolley/bus/taxi route to another? You gotta pay. Going from tram to marshrutka? You gotta pay. Still it's cheaper than regular bus fare back home for me (at this posting $3.55 which lasts for 1h30 minutes along the bus and O-Train routes).
Not sure what else I can say about public transportation in Krasnodar but if you got a question then feel free to ask. Enjoy this video of a guy who got on to play his guitar:
