By Bus, Tram & Trolley

You're unlikely to want to travel by long-distance bus in Russia, since the trains are frequent, cheap, and reliable. Most bus services go to provincial towns that lack good rail links.

Buses, trams, and trolleys all use the same tickets (15R), which you can buy in special kiosks, usually near metro stations. You can also buy tickets from the driver, but then they cost 25R. You have to get on at the entrance next to the driver and put the ticket through an electronic turnstile. The ticket is valid for one ride only; if you change buses you must pay another fare. Buses, trams, and trolleys operate from 5:30 am to 1 am, although service in the late-evening hours and on Sunday tends to be unreliable. Trolleys are connected to overhead power lines, trams to metal rails.

Local bus and tram routes tend to be mysterious, since bus stops don't provide information and the vehicles only carry a terse lists of destinations, often referring to factories or landmarks, and the like that no longer exist. Newspaper kiosks sell a map that shows all of Moscow's transport routes called, karta Moskvy so vsem transportom.

A nice tram ride is the 39, which goes from Universitet metro station to Chistiye Prudy metro station past Donskoy Monastery and Danilovsky Market. The B trolley bus runs around the Garden Ring and can be a nice trip when the traffic's not heavy.

Contacts

Tsentralny Avtovokzal. 75 Shchelkovskoe shosse, Eastern Outskirts, Moscow. 495/468-0400. Metro: Shchelkovskaya.

Mosgortrans runs all the city's surface transport. 495/953-0061. www.mosgortrans.com.