Performance of the Moscow transit system in 2016

Round the clock

The Moscow Metro proved on New Year’s night that it can run round the clock, if necessary. For the first time in the Moscow Metro’s history, over 5,000 metro employees worked until the morning of 1 January, taking passengers to friends and families and to sites of New Year’s festivities at intervals ranging from 3.5 to 10 minutes. Overall, the Moscow Metro and the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) made some 400,000 runs.

The next time the metro will run round the clock is City Day, to be marked on 2 September 2017, and on New Year’s night next year.

Fewer accidents

The road accident rate in Moscow has been reduced to a historical low for the past seven years. The number of accidents fell 46 percent compared to 2010, even though the number of vehicles has increased by a million.

Radars and video cameras are used for road monitoring in Moscow.

An additional 610 traffic photo and video cameras were installed last year to improve order on the roads, especially in the most dangerous places. In all, some 1,500 items of traffic control equipment have been installed since 2011.

Analysis of accident-prone places is performed regularly in Moscow to identify the causes and take measures to remove them. In 2016, the number of such places has been reduced by 72 percent, which helped prevent many road accidents.

Reduced congestion

According to the TomTom Traffic Index, waiting time in traffic jams in Moscow has decreased by an average of 24 percent in 2016.

Bob Randsdorp from TomTom explains Moscow’s achievements in reducing traffic congestion by citing the city’s new methods of traffic regulation. He said Moscow is doing a great deal to improve the road traffic situation. For example, it has developed a new approach to regulating parking space and its road traffic control system is based on both real-time data and information from past years.

New routes

The majority of people in Moscow do not use private cars. In 2016, public transport in the city carried 600 million passengers more than in 2010, while the annual passenger flow of economically active people has increased by 63 percent or 1.5 billion trips.

Nearly 9 million people use the Moscow Metro, over 7.5 million use the surface transit system and 600,000 hire taxis every day.

The Magistral surface transport system, which opened on 8 October 2016, includes 17 routes within the Garden Ring, 11 area routes and seven social routes, helping people reach the city centre other than by metro. The network has some 400 buses, trolleybuses and tramways.

Moscow Central Circle

The Moscow Central Circle (MCC) opened to the public in the autumn of 2016 and carried over 25 million passengers by the end of the year. From 105 to 110 million passengers are expected to use it in the first full year. Some 310,000 people use the fast Lastochka trains every day. The trains have air conditioning, composting toilets, information screens, free Wi-Fi and outlets for charging gadgets.

The MCC has reduced the passenger load on the metro’s Circle Line by 15 percent and even more on other lines. For example, passenger flow between the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad and Cherkizovskaya stations has decreased by 31 percent.

The first MCC stations opened on 10 September and the last, 31st station (Panfilovskaya) opened on 8 November. Passengers can use the Unified, and Troika travel cards and 90 Minute ticket to pay for rides on the MCC, where all travel incentives offered to Muscovites are applicable.

Seamless internet

The Wi-Fi network on MCC trains was added to the common Wi-Fi space on public transport in December. Passengers can use the system anywhere on public transport after the first connection in the metro, on the MCC or on surface transport. The system is also available on the Aeroexpress trains and terminals. In fact, the network has turned Moscow into Europe’s largest integrated wireless internet zone. Commuter trains were added to the system late last year. Some 4 million connections are registered in the system every day.

Commuter trains

The rapidly developing network of commuter trains in Moscow and Moscow Region is being integrated in the transit system of the Russian capital. In 2016, commuter services have repaired and renovated 290 stations and stops. New transit hubs are being built, including in the Moscow Region (Usovo and Solnechnaya). The biggest news for commuters is the new card that combines the Strelka and Troika travel cards and can be used for travelling around Moscow and the Moscow Region. More payment terminals that accept bank cards are being installed.