I suppose it's inevitable that there will be a lot of blogs about transport, since I spend so much time on it - in one form or another. Today I wanted to show you one of the little bus ticket booths that are dotted about all over Moscow, usually very close to a bus stop.
You buy tickets here that are valid for tram, bus or trolleybus (and sometimes metro). A 60 trip ticket costs about £15. You get on the bus and put your ticket into a machine which prints a date stamp and the number of trips left on the back of the ticket. A turnstile is released and you can pass through into the bus. You get off the bus via the middle or rear doors. Woe betide (горе тому, кто) anybody who gets on via the centre or rear doors. The driver gives them a right ear-bending.
Occasionally the ticket stops working, part way through its validity. You have to go a ticket booth and hand in your ticket. They will keep it and give you replacement tickets up to the number of rides you still had left. For example, it happened to me yesterday when I had 17 rides left. She gave me a 10 ride ticket, a 5 ride ticket and 2 single ride tickets. All very nice but I had wanted the 60 ride ticket for the UK tax man. Never mind. As far as these ticket booths are concerned I have two questions? Firstly, how can somebody work in there in solitude all day and every day without losing their sanity? Perhaps the lady in the transport ticket booth pops across to chat with the lady in the theatre ticket booth but often the booths stand in isolation. Secondly, with so many of them all over the city, how can anybody earn a living wage working therein?
Occasionally the ticket stops working, part way through its validity. You have to go a ticket booth and hand in your ticket. They will keep it and give you replacement tickets up to the number of rides you still had left. For example, it happened to me yesterday when I had 17 rides left. She gave me a 10 ride ticket, a 5 ride ticket and 2 single ride tickets. All very nice but I had wanted the 60 ride ticket for the UK tax man. Never mind. As far as these ticket booths are concerned I have two questions? Firstly, how can somebody work in there in solitude all day and every day without losing their sanity? Perhaps the lady in the transport ticket booth pops across to chat with the lady in the theatre ticket booth but often the booths stand in isolation. Secondly, with so many of them all over the city, how can anybody earn a living wage working therein?
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