Getting Around in Karaganda

Local public transportation in Karaganda is somewhat different than back at home in Canada.

One way of getting around is by taking a taxi. You can call a cab company and they'll send one to your location, just like at home. You agree on a price on the telephone. The usual price for going anywhere in the city is 350 to 400 tenges. That's about $2.50 to $3.00.

You can also flag down a cab on the street. You negotiate the price when you get in the car. These cabs are usually about 50 tenges cheaper than those that you call.

There are two types of bus. One is the usual kind of bus like you see on the street in most major cities. Most of them here are made by a company called Setra. They're operated by the Akimat (city or mayoralty) of Karaganda. The other type of bus is a marschrutka: what we would call a minibus. They're privately owned and operated. No matter what kind of bus you take, the price is the same: 30 tenges during the day, 50 tenges after 9:00 PM. The fare on both types of bus is collected by a conductor like we used to have years ago on streetcars in Canada. The conductor walks up and down the bus, collects fares and gives change, and maintains law and order. If an old person, a young child or a pregnant woman gets on a bus, woe befalls he or she who doesn't yield their seat.

The marschrutkas provide a unique travel experience. They have about ten to fifteen seats. But you often find twenty or more people on them. Personal space is definitely at a premium. The radio is usually playing quite loudly, often Russian or Kazakh pop music. Some of the marschrutkas are fairly old and have not had the benefit of a pollution control check since they left the factory. Some have Plexiglas replacing broken windows. Or sometimes the type of clear plastic like you get in a tent trailer. They must be a bit drafty in the winter. The marschrutkas have two main benefits, though. One is that you do get to your destination very quickly. Many drivers are apparently ex-Formula One racecar drivers. They go very fast because they want to pick up as many passengers as possible. They want to beat other marschrutkas and the city buses to the next stop, in order to make more money. Some are former members of the brass section of the Karaganda City Orchestra, because they are expert horn players. The second benefit is that there seems to be an unlimited number of marschrutkas. So you rarely have to wait more than five minutes before your bus comes. Albeit sometimes in a cloud of smoke.

You do need to be alert when taking your bus, though. The city buses are all numbered in the normal way. But the marschrutkas' numbers begin with zero. So the route of a number 1 bus is not the same as that of a number 01 marschrutka.

In the main downtown area there are also trolley buses, like they have in Toronto. Not streetcars, though. Buses with pantographs. (Had to say that. How often do you get to use the word "pantograph" in a lifetime?) These trolley buses are mostly relics of the Soviet era. One might argue that some are veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet name for the Second World War. Some are quite modern, though. Newer than those in Toronto, anyway. And you only pay 25 tenges for a ride.

Another way of getting around is to hitchhike, but to pay for the ride. You just stick your arm out perpendicular to the ground and wave it sideways to parallel. If you don't like the look of the car or driver, you just wave it on, and nobody takes offence. If you do get into the car, you negotiate a price for your destination. Many people use this method of transportation to move about. We haven't been brave enough to try it, though; our local bus stop is served by three different bus routes.

So there are many ways you can quickly and cheaply get to where you want to go in Karaganda.