Moscow Guide
Getting around
Public transport tickets
Passengers on buses, trams and trolleybuses are required to punch tickets (talony) in low-tech devices aboard the vehicles. Valid on all three forms of transport, talony are sold at some kiosks, or can be bought from the driver if there isn't a conductor (provodnitsa) aboard. On crowded vehicles, Russians ask fellow travellers to oblige if they can't reach the driver themselves. Ticket inspectors are active; there's a R300 fine for travelling without a punched talon. On minibuses you simply pay the driver; no ticket is issued. There's no need to state your destination as there's a flat fare on all routes.
Unless you're going to be in Moscow for a long time and make regular use of particular services, it's not worth buying a one- or three-month pass, though you might purchase a one-month yediniy bilet, valid for up to seventy journeys on buses, trolleybuses, trams and the metro, simply to avoid buying talony or metro tickets all the time. The yediniy bilet goes on sale in metro stations and kiosks towards the end of the calendar month, for a few days only; there is also a half-monthly version that goes on sale in the middle of the month.
The system on the metro is different, insofar as you buy various kinds of machine-readable tickets. There is a prisnoy bilet valid for ten, twenty or sixty journeys within a thirty-day period, or a one-month prisnoy bilet valid for up to seventy journeys. Alternatively, you can buy a transport card (transportnaya karta) valid for an unlimited number of journeys within a one-month (na mesats) or three-month (tri mesyatsa) period, or even an entire year (na god), starting from the date of issue. With all of these, you place the ticket or card on a reader on the turnstile, wait for the light to switch from red to green, and walk through. If you're using a yediniy bilet, you simply show it as you walk past the guardian at the end of the row of turnstiles.
Although the price of tickets and passes is liable to increase in line with inflation, public transport is still affordable for the locals and great value for tourists. A metro ride costs about R15, a minibus ride in town R20–40.