И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

TEXT 5. MOSCOW'S PUBLIC TRANSPORT
(1) Moscow is a very large transportation centre. It is often called the port of five seas. One can sail from Mos­cow to the Baltic, Caspian, Black, Asov and White Seas. There are nine railway stations in Moscow. A great num­ber of suburban passengers use the Moscow railway stations every day and they need transport in the city. With the population reaching over 8 mln, it is not an easy job to provide transit to millions of passengers each day. In deal­ing with the passenger transportation problems the city planners intend to rely mainly on public transport. All types of city transport are to be developed so that each Muscovite will be able to reach any part of the city in 30 minutes (now it takes him 40 minutes on an average).

(2) The metro is the most efficient rapid transit system. The Moscow Metro is serviced by electric trains carrying over 6 mln passengers each day, more than any other metro system of the world. According to the city Master Plan a large metro circle line is to be built in Moscow, with express lines radiating 30 km beyond the city limits. These will run to large "satellite towns", airports and rest zones. There will be direct Metro service between all the dis­tricts of the city.

(3) The bus routes operating in the city carry passen­gers to Metro stations. In general, buses handle about 5 mln passengers daily. In order to make the capital's air cleaner new buses are being put into service which run on liquefied gas. They are more economical than those operat­ing on petrol or diesel fuel.

(4) The trolleybuses can better meet the ecological requirements because they run on electricity. They take the third place in the city for the number of passengers— about 3 mln passengers each day. The trolleybus of today has an all-metal, streamlined body, an automatic control system, improved finishing of the passenger saloon, a ven­tilation system which provides heating in winter. In ad­dition, it has a larger passenger capacity.

(5) The streetcar, or tram, also does its useful job in Moscow streets. A new improved version of tram for Mos­cow and other Soviet cities has been recently produced in Leningrad. It consists of two articulated parts over 22 m in length which can carry more than 300 passengers. The tram can travel at up to 60 kph. So it can be used on rapid lines. The tram, however, produces much noise and is usually replaced by trolleybuses in major streets.

(6) In order to improve the operation of city transport the "Start" traffic control system has been introduced in Moscow. The system's TV cameras control the crossroads inside Sadovoye Koltso, one of the busiest thoroughfares of the capital. The cameras transmit all the necessary information to the dispatcher's centre which is equipped with electronic computers. They decide in which direction the traffic should be directed to avoid traffic jams and many other traffic problems.