Driving in Moscow (Part 1)

Moscow is a very exciting yet bewildering place to drive. There are many compelling reasons behind this. I must say that fortunately for us, we need not step behind the wheel of a car during this trip (thank you Olga and Sasha!!), however driving around the City with our friends has been most interesting. For one thing, although cars drive on the right side of the road (as in the US) it is perfectly legal to purchase and drive cars with either traditional left handed steering or the british/japaense style right hand steering cars. In the rush to get their hands on vehicles after, many Russians grabbed japenese and british imports – with right handed steering wheels. I’d say about 5-10% of all cars have right hand steering. Although vehicle availability is not an issue anymore, to many Russians the right hand steering option in a new car is a kind of symbol of their freedom and choice in consumerism - one that exemplifies that anything goes in new Moscow!

I read that Moscow did not have much traffic and a total of only 900,000 cars back in 1991 the year that communism fell. 18 years of consumerism and the complete freedom to purchase any vehicle of their choice, after many years of limitations by the communist regime has led to now over 6,000,000 cars being driven on the road today. That equates to a 12% increase in the number of cars on the road every year for 18 consecutive years!! This rate of increase would give any city problems, but Moscow, as an 860-year-old city, is handcuffed with a challenging downtown street grid. Old road and new frequently change names from block to block, making map-reading an exercise in major frustration. In addition there is very little ability to make any serious improvements or road widening efforts due to the streets being lined with several hundreds year old historical monuments and buildings on every block. Which mayor or public works director wants to be known for tearing down the Pushkin or Yuri’s statues, public parks, or the old ministry building just to add a lane or two of additional pavement?

There are very few traffic signals (less than in Washington DC where they only have 5% of the population of Moscow) -- and they seem to change according to their own unwritten rules, none of which include proper synchronization. Most striking of all are the city's traffic rules, which seem bizarre at the least and absolutely ridiculous at worst. "No Parking" can often be translated as "Park on the sidewalk, not the street" and believe me – EVERYONE parks on the sidewalks in this town, on nearly every street, this is almost a necessity as there are no parking structures and the city was not designed for probably 10% of the cars on the road today. Fortunately Moscow was laid out with incredibly generous sidewalks (up to 30 feet wide) so cars and pedestrians are able to share the space pretty easily. Somebody stop me from parking on the sidewalk in front of Staples center next I'm in LA though please.

Left turns are largely banned, except when they are not; and signs do not always distinguish the two. U-turns are encouraged, but only on busy streets, and again only in certain spots !! The preferred method of making a left turn is to continue driving past one's destination, sometimes for several minutes, until the car reaches an overpass or a U-turn zone. With that, it is possible to turn around, backtrack to the destination and make a legal right turn.

Sometimes the only way to make a left turn is to turn right, then navigate a maze of U-turns and side streets to reach a traffic signal that will allow you to cross the street you were on to begin with. Just crazy. For instance a left turn from popular Novy Arbat onto the Garden Ring “expressway” entails a right turn, two U-turns, three more sharp turns and then a trip around both the Russian White House and the American Embassy.

None of this stuff really mattered much when there weren't many cars in Moscow. Today this all leads to a near 24 hour traffic situation in the city, one that is not so affectionally referred to as probka – which is Russian for "cork" – a slang term used to describe the traffic. And when the say cork they mean that liternally - rush hour traffic extends for half the day, and if you get stuck in a probka traffic jam you may as well shut the car off. Think about that next time you're squawking about the 25 mph "traffic" on the 101 freeway.

Russians have always been known as zestful drivers, and this is highlighted even further in today’s current traffic in the ways Russians can improvise on the spot, infer the intent of largely absent traffic signs, find parking where no man has parked before, and find shortcuts and back alleys to their destination. Avoiding the probka… AT ALL COSTS! Get a Moscovite on an open highway and watch out – there are hours of Probka frustration that will be let loose at once!!

"If one learns to drive in the Moscow environment, then there is no other city in the entire world in which to be scared”. “Most Moscovites could drive in western Europe or the US with one eye blindfolded and one arm (plus a few fingers from the other arm) tied behind their backs”. These are two popular sayings – both of which I can attest to as being truths.

NOTE: The positive news despite all of the challenges of driving here is that Moscow has by many standards the worlds most efficient, expansive, and well operated underground subway system – with 9 million people a day taking rides at less than $1 each way. So alas there is indeed a quick and easy way to avoid all of the city traffic after all!