A couple of my course-mates (and even our lecturer David) have already posted blogs about traffic jams and things related to them. Main *heroes* of such stories are usually suburban trains (*electrichka's*) and metro carriages, large green or blue snakes jam-packed by people. Though I also experience a lot of discomfort while commuting to HSE/NES and back, I cannot tell you that something very extraordinary or terrible happened to me during my short trips which usually take 20-30 min. But as I'm a big fan of public transport, I have always dreamt about organizing some perfect transit system here in Moscow.
When I stuck in a traffic jam or riding in stuffy and gloomy carriage deep under the ground, I usually think what if we could travel not under or on the ground but above it. I think of "flying buses" or helicopters on sky routes above the city, sadly knowing that it impossible at least for now. But yesterday I came upon one interesting article in Russian Forbes which discussed another type of aerial transportation - aerial cableway. As it turned out, it has a lot of advantages: moderate construction cost, accessibility for passengers, and breathtaking views, which attract lots of tourists. Here is an amazing example of such transport system: a cableway in New York to Roosevelt island. As said in the article I mentioned dwellers of the island enjoy it and still use it despite opening a metro station there some time ago. More examples of such systems could be found in mountainous countries such as Venezuela or Switzerland.
Another beautiful, but too complex to construct example of underground system you can find in Wuppertal, Germany. I saw this picture more than 5 years ago and since that time I've imagined how things like this one could be developed in Moscow. But soon I received an evidence how such systems fail in Russian conditions: Moscow monorail system costed and still cost so lot to Moscow tax payers that government discusses now whether it could be closed and demolished. Well, maybe monorail is not the best option for transportation in Moscow, but I think that the main problem is that government (like adventurists) made a lot mistakes while planning this system and corruption strengthened its effect. So, I believe that new type of transportation could be introduces to Moscow to solve its transportation problems. The main point is that government must really do rigorous transportation planning if it doesn't want Moscow to stop in a transport collapse.
When I stuck in a traffic jam or riding in stuffy and gloomy carriage deep under the ground, I usually think what if we could travel not under or on the ground but above it. I think of "flying buses" or helicopters on sky routes above the city, sadly knowing that it impossible at least for now. But yesterday I came upon one interesting article in Russian Forbes which discussed another type of aerial transportation - aerial cableway. As it turned out, it has a lot of advantages: moderate construction cost, accessibility for passengers, and breathtaking views, which attract lots of tourists. Here is an amazing example of such transport system: a cableway in New York to Roosevelt island. As said in the article I mentioned dwellers of the island enjoy it and still use it despite opening a metro station there some time ago. More examples of such systems could be found in mountainous countries such as Venezuela or Switzerland.
Another beautiful, but too complex to construct example of underground system you can find in Wuppertal, Germany. I saw this picture more than 5 years ago and since that time I've imagined how things like this one could be developed in Moscow. But soon I received an evidence how such systems fail in Russian conditions: Moscow monorail system costed and still cost so lot to Moscow tax payers that government discusses now whether it could be closed and demolished. Well, maybe monorail is not the best option for transportation in Moscow, but I think that the main problem is that government (like adventurists) made a lot mistakes while planning this system and corruption strengthened its effect. So, I believe that new type of transportation could be introduces to Moscow to solve its transportation problems. The main point is that government must really do rigorous transportation planning if it doesn't want Moscow to stop in a transport collapse.
I agree that public transportation is important, and the aerial cableway looks like a really cool idea, but can you imagine what it would be like if you were smashed in a cablecar with a hundred people like we're crowded into the metro trains here? It would be terrifying! It would only work if you had enough cablecars to ensure that they wouldn't be too full, but I don't know if that would be feasible in a city with as many public transport users as Moscow.
ОтветитьУдалитьI am totally agree with you that transport problem is very important in Moscow. But I think this problem has no real solution, at least in the coming decades. The pictures with aerial cableway looks great, but for me it is like a fairy tale. I can't imagine how we can organize it here, population and city's size are too big. Moreover, the costs of such constructions are incredibly high. As a separate route it may be possible, but not as a common system.
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