Part 1: Moscow
I have made three rather lengthy trips to Russia, and while I certainly did not spend the bulk of any of those trips in Moscow, I still spent a lot of time there. Moscow has an incredibly impressive subway system. It is efficient and it reaches into most corners of the city. The most impressive thing about the Moscow subway system, however, is the stations. They are not simply stops on a public transit line, they are works of art. Below are photographs (not taken by me – you’re not supposed to take pictures in the stations, and I try to avoid rule-breaking in Russia) of some of the most beautiful stations, just to give you a glimpse of what I mean. They truly are “palaces of the people.”
I have made three rather lengthy trips to Russia, and while I certainly did not spend the bulk of any of those trips in Moscow, I still spent a lot of time there. Moscow has an incredibly impressive subway system. It is efficient and it reaches into most corners of the city. The most impressive thing about the Moscow subway system, however, is the stations. They are not simply stops on a public transit line, they are works of art. Below are photographs (not taken by me – you’re not supposed to take pictures in the stations, and I try to avoid rule-breaking in Russia) of some of the most beautiful stations, just to give you a glimpse of what I mean. They truly are “palaces of the people.”
Metro Station Komsomolskaya
Metro Station Kievskaya
In addition to the ever amazing subway system that is the Moscow Metro, Moscow also has an efficient bus and trolley bus system, plus slightly more expensive mini-buses called marshrutki. It’s pretty easy to get around the city without a car, and certainly the masses avail themselves of this opportunity. Just check out this video of the Moscow Metro at rush hour!
However, in cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg where the “New Russians” are growing richer by the day, the idea that the “better” people own cars is certainly becoming prevalent. Moscow and St. Petersburg roads are frequently jammed with cars – and, of course, the winter weather often exacerbates this situation.
Despite the ever increasing popularity of the automobile, public transportation is still the way the masses travel… HOWEVER: anyone who has ever visited Russia can attest to the fact that pollution is still a serious problem in that country. Certainly the growing number of cars is contributing to an increase in pollution emissions, but in Russia there are certainly far worse polluters in just about every industry.
Part 2: Daegu
I currently live in Daegu, South Korea. Daegu has excellent public transportation. I live close enough to my workplace that I can walk; however, if I wish to go anywhere else in the city, I can easily do so by taking either the subway or a bus (or both). Many, many people avail themselves of the public transportation opportunities in Daegu (and other South Korean cities) on a daily basis, and the subway and busses are frequently packed. That being said, cars are becoming increasingly popular here as well. Perhaps it’s a sign of status? I don’t know. I do know that this is the only country where I’ve been caught in a nine hour traffic jam!
Of course, even if every person in South Korea were to drive an SUV, it wouldn’t have nearly the impact that the US has on pollution emissions, simply due to South Korea’s size – this country is, after all, smaller than Florida.
The Daegu subway stations aren't particularly interesting...
but the cars are incredibly clean!
Part 3: San Diego
I lived in San Diego, CA for a little over two years. The city of San Diego is quite large, and San Diego County is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. The freeways are constantly jammed, and I spent a huge portion of my time sitting in traffic. San Diego does have a trolley and bus system, but they are not very efficient. In good traffic, it would take me approximately 15 minutes to drive from my house to the Mexican border. This same trip would take one hour by trolley, not including the fifteen minutes it took me to walk to the nearest trolley stop. I only ever used the trolley when I went to Mexico, simply because I did not feel that the border was a safe area to park my car. All other times, I drove. Who wants to take triple or quadruple the time to get somewhere?
The San Diego Trolley only had two lines. The bus routes weren’t very convenient. While the local government spoke of plans to add more lines and routes in the future, they weren’t sure if that would be cost effective. Because so few people rode the trolley and buses regularly, the city had to increase fees. The increased fees led to fewer people riding said transport, leading to a decrease in transit authority revenue, leading to another fee hike... and meanwhile, traffic gets worse and worse by the day. That being said, there's a lot less pollution in San Diego than in either Daegu or Moscow!
Waiting for the San Diego Trolley with my mom, 2003
(We were going to Tijuana, Mexico.)
5 comments:
Well, I was stuck in an 11 hour traffic jam once in Houston. I guess I lucked out, though, because my friends were stuck in a 36 hour traffic jam. (Of course, I gave up and turned around).
Houston also has a terrible public transportation system. They have one train line, and a substandard bus system. They're trying to add another train line, but it would go through a rich neighborhood, so people are protesting like crazy. Rich people, I mean.
Those metro stations might be the only things that have ever made me think, 'woah! I should move to Russia!' And I suppose even that reaction says a lot about class distinctions as they relate to public transport. It WOULD be nice to feel like I'm walking into a palace wherever I get on the DC metro, but it falls slightly short (although DC metro is still WAY nicer than NYC subway)!
on a related note, I just had lunch with a co-worker who told me about Glen Beck's campaign to promote some British scientist who "disproves" everything in "Al Gore's Inconvient Truth." I know a lot of people (many very old or suspected to be mentally challenged) who take what this guy says to be gospel truth.
This leaves me with two questions:
1. Why do people unconditionally trust TV pundits with clear biases?
2. Why do people get so upset over the idea of climate change caused by human action? in other words, why is this a controversial issue?
Jen,
I personally believe that humans are a part of the environment in which we live which means that any action and transformation that we make upon the environment is part of the natural process. Thus, we qually crate pristine places as we do urban envirnoments that suit our indivdiausl needs. With that said, it seems to me that this is the very reason that humans are so concerned with climate change- not because it is changing a natural cycle but because those changes are most likely going to have a detrimental effect upon a large part of the human population ie- costs in environmental damage, agricultural shifts, droughts, floods, etc. Thus, it seems to me that it is not about the planet but about us. I personally live in Florida, and it is had become increasingly hot beyond anything that I can ever remember. And yes, it is probabaly possible to move to other climates but that is only really like for those with money while the poor loose out in the situation on numerous levels be they personal, familial, social, monetarily, environmentally, governmentally, and fiscally as with taxes. Thus, the issues really is not something that people can readily afford to ignore. Of course, alternative fuels that also poullute are not really a solution either. It seems to me that the problem requires a larger transnational dialouge which I do not belive will occur anytime soon especially as long as the U.S. - the largest polluter is fighting an oil war in Iraq.
Christopher
I for one think its pretty obvious that Al Gore only made that movie in an effort to sell more of those light bulbs you were talking about earlier. Fortunately I'm not a sucker, so I'm still using the ones that are "terrible for the environment"... jeez Jen, you probably beleived all those other things about not using led base paint and the dangers of asbestos too, right? Hell you probably even stopped eating paint chips just because they said "ooohhhh... that's unHEALTHY...". Well I'm not worried about all that science nonsense. I'll tell you whose cooing my pilot. Jeesus.
I mean COME ON!!! Its not like we have the ability to change our surroundings in any significant way. Just look at LA. Those buildings haven't changed in like 50 freaking years!!! Which means they'll obviously never change. And as far as this whole nonsense about the "O-Zone" is concerned, the only "zone" we should be worried about is the "End Zone" on Superbowl Sunday. And its not like trees don't grow back... well agent orange aside. NEwayZ, you know what I mean.
As far as the whole traffic jam things are concerned, maybe if you guys had Jesus in the seat next to yous co-piloting he'd a gotten you out of that mess in the first place.
And last, I'm really sorry Jane, but everyone knows that Russia is a third world country. You can't just post up some Victorian paintings from Europe and expect us to beleive they're pictures of Russian subways. We all saw Rocky IV. We all know that there is nothing in the Soviet Union but snow and Dolf Lundgren. Seriously, next time don't be so condensing to us. It's not like we're stoopid.
And also, I think you should stop travelling so much and come back to the best country. I know its the best because I've never been anywhere else. Never even wanted to. That, and you saw what happened to Dolf... The Soviet Republic is Dangerous and stuff.
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