Washington: Transportation

Washington has the largest ferry system in the United States.

Washington has a system of state highways, called State Routes, as well as an extensive ferry system which is the largest in the nation^[36] as well as the third largest in the world. There are 140 public airfields in Washington, including 16 state airports owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Boeing Field in Seattle is one of the busiest primary non-hub airports in the US.^[37] The unique geography of Washington presents exceptional transportation needs.

There are extensive waterways in the midst of Washington's largest cites, including Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Olympia. The state highways incorporate an extensive network of bridges and the largest ferry system in the United States to serve transportation needs in the Puget Sound area. Washington's marine highway constitutes a fleet of twenty-eight ferries that navigate Puget Sound and its inland waterways to 20 different ports of call. Washington is home to four of the five longest floating bridges in the world: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge over Lake Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge which connects the Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap Peninsula.

Floating bridges on Lake Washington

The Cascade Mountain Range also provides unique transportation challenges. Washington operates and maintains roads over seven major mountain passes and eight minor passes. During winter months some of these passes are plowed, sanded, and kept safe with avalanche control. Not all are able to stay open through the winter. The North Cascades Highway, State Route 20, closes every year. This is because the extraordinary amount of snowfall and frequency of avalanches in the area of Washington Pass make it unsafe in the winter months.

It is recorded that transportation, including automobiles, planes, trains and ships, is the cause of 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington.

Transport

Air

Airport Vnukovo underground Railway Station

Sheremetyevo International Airport Terminal 2

There are five primary commercial airports serving Moscow: Sheremetyevo International Airport, Domodedovo International Airport, Bykovo Airport, Ostafyevo International Airport and Vnukovo International Airport. Sheremetyevo International Airport is the most common entry point for foreign passengers, handling sixty percent of all international flights.^[69] Domodedovo International Airport is the leading airport in Russia in terms of passenger throughput, and is the primary gateway to long-haul domestic and CIS destinations and its international traffic rivals Sheremetyevo's. The three other airports particularly offer flights within Russia and to and from states from the former Soviet Union.^[70] Moscow's airports vary in distances from MKAD beltway: Bykovo is the farthest, at 35 kilometres (21 mi); Domodedovo is next at 22 kilometres (13.7 mi); Vnukovo is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi); Sheremetyevo is 10 kilometres (6.25 mi); and Ostafievo, the nearest, is about 8 kilometers (5 mi) from MKAD.^[69]

There are also several smaller airports near Moscow, such as Myachkovo Airport, intended for private aircraft, helicopters and charters.^[71]

Water

North River Terminal

Moscow also has two passenger terminals, (South River Terminal and North River Terminal or Rechnoy vokzal), on the river and regular ship routes and cruises along Moskva and Oka rivers, which are used mostly for entertainment. The North River Terminal, built in 1937, is also the main hub for long-range river routes. There are also three freight ports serving Moscow.

Railway

Kiyevsky Rail Terminal, as seen from the Moskva River embankment

Paveletsky Rail Terminal

Moscow employs several train stations to serve the city. Moscow's nine rail terminals (or vokzals) are:

• Belorussky Rail Terminal
• Kazansky Rail Terminal
• Kiyevsky Rail Terminal
• Kursky Rail Terminal
• Leningradsky Rail Terminal
• Paveletsky Rail Terminal
• Rizhsky Rail Terminal
• Savyolovsky Rail Terminal
• Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal

They are located close to the city centre, but each handles trains from different parts of Europe and Asia.^[72] There are also many smaller railway stations in Moscow. As train tickets are relatively cheap, they are the mode of preference for travelling Russians, especially when departing to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Moscow is also the western terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which traverses nearly 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Russian territory to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.

Suburbs and satellite cities are also connected by commuter elektrichka (electric rail) network. Elektrichkas depart from each of these terminals to the nearby (up to 140 kilometres (87 mi)) large railway stations.

Metro

Main article: Moscow Metro

Moscow Metro, January 2010

Moscow Metro, Vystavochnaya metro station

Local transport includes the Moscow Metro, a metro system famous for its art, murals, mosaics, and ornate chandeliers. When it first opened in 1935, the system had just one line. Today, the Moscow Metro contains twelve lines, mostly underground with a total of 177 stations. The Metro is one of the deepest subway systems in the world; for instance the Park Pobedy station, completed in 2003, at 84 metres (280 ft) underground, has the longest escalators in Europe. The Moscow Metro is one of world's busiest metro systems, serving more than nine million passengers daily.^[73] Facing serious transportation problems, Moscow has wide plans of expansion of Moscow Metro.

Monorail

Main article: Moscow Monorail Transit System

The Moscow Monorail Line

There is also a short monorail line, operated by the Moscow Metro company. The line connects Timiryazevskaya metro station and Sergeya Eyzenshteyna street, passing close to AREC. The line opened in 2004.

Bus & Trolleybus

As Metro stations outside the city centre are far apart in comparison to other cities, up to 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), an extensive bus network radiates from each station to the surrounding residential zones. Also Moscow has a bus terminal for long-range and intercity passenger buses (Central Bus Terminal) with daily turnover of about 25 thousand passengers serving about 40% of long-range bus routes in Moscow.^[74]

Every large street in the city is served by at least one bus route. Many of these routes are doubled by a trolleybus routes. Also every large street of Moscow has trolley wires over it.

[edit] Tram

71-619К tram of route № 17. Not far from All-Russia Exhibition Centre

Moscow has an extensive tram system which first opened in 1899. Its daily usage by Muscovites is low (approx. 5%) although it still remains vital in some districts for those who need to get to the nearby Metro station.

Taxi

In Russia and Moscow, the difference between hailing a cab and simply hitchhiking is blurry. It's an old Russian tradition for drivers to offer rides to strangers, for a fee. Generally, wherever you are, at any time of day or night, you can get a 'cab' in a matter of minutes or seconds by holding out your hand. Commercial taxi services are also available. Besides this route taxi is also wide spread.

Roads

MKAD interchange in northeastern Moscow

There are over 2.6 million cars in the city on a daily basis.^[45] Recent years have seen the growth in the number of cars, which have caused traffic jams and the lack of parking space to become major problems.

The MKAD, along with the Third Transport Ring and the future Fourth Transport Ring, is one of only three freeways that run within Moscow city limits. However, as one can easily observe from a map of Moscow area, there are several other roadway systems that form concentric circles around the city.

Mumbai - Transport

Public transport systems in Mumbai include the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses, taxis, auto rickshaws, ferries, and aeroplanes, and plays a dominant role. Rail and bus services combined carry about 88% of the passenger traffic.^[172] Black and yellow metered taxis traverse most of the metropolis. Auto rickshaws operate only in the suburban areas of Mumbai, while taxis mostly operate in South Mumbai.^[173] Taxis and rickshaws run on Compressed Natural Gas,^[174] and are the most convenient, economical, and easily available means of transport.^[173] Mumbai has about 1.53 million vehicles,^[175] 56,459 black and yellow taxis, and 1,02,224 auto rickshaws, as of 2005.^[176]

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, is the headquarters of the Central Railway and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Mumbai is served by National Highway 3, National Highway 4 and National Highway 8 of the Indian National Highways system.^[177] The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was the first expressway ever built in India,^[178] while the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway is under construction.^[179] Recently, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link bridge was opened, which along with Mahim Causeway, links the island city to the western suburbs.^[180] The two main road stretches within the city are the Eastern Express Highway from Sion to Mulund, and the Western Express Highway from Bandra to Borivali.^[181]

Mumbai is the headquarters of two railway zones: the Central Railway (CR) headquartered at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Western Railway (WR) headquartered near Churchgate.^[182] The backbone of the city's transport, the Mumbai Suburban Railway, consists of three separate networks: Central, Western, and Harbour Line, running the length of the city, in a north-south direction.^[183] The Mumbai Metro is an underground and elevated rapid transit system currently under construction.^[184] The Mumbai Monorail, currently under construction, will run from Jacob Circle to Wadala when it is completed.^[185] Mumbai is well connected to most parts of India by the Indian Railways. Trains originate from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai Central, Bandra terminus and Andheri.^[186] Mumbai's suburban rail systems carry a total of 6.3 million passengers every day.^[187] Which is more than half of Indian Railways daily carrying capacity utilized by Mumbai. Trains are overcrowded during peak hours, with nine-car trains having a maximum capacity of 1,700 passengers, carrying around 4,500 passengers.^[188] During 2003–2008, about 20,000 rail deaths were reported on the suburban railway, with an average of 10 deaths per day.^[189]

A Modern BEST bus (Starbus). BEST buses carry a total of 4.5 million passengers daily

The bus services carry over 5.5 million passengers per day.^[172] Public buses run by BEST cover almost all parts of the metropolis, as well as parts of Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar and Thane.^[190] Buses are used for commuting short to medium distances, while train fares are more economical for long distance commutes.^[191] The BEST runs a total of 4,013 buses,^[192] ferrying 4.5 million passengers daily^[172] over 390 routes.^[193] Its fleet consists of single-decker, double-decker, vestibule, low-floor, disabled-friendly, air-conditioned and the Euro III compliant Compressed Natural Gas powered buses.^[192] Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses provide intercity transport and connect Mumbai with other major cities of Maharashtra and India.^[194][195] The Mumbai Darshan is a tourist bus service which explores numerous tourist attractions in Mumbai.^[196] Mumbai BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) lanes have been planned throughout Mumbai, with buses running on seven routes as of March 2009.^[197] Though 88% of the commuters travel by public transport, Mumbai still continues to struggle with traffic congestion.^[198] The city has been categorized as one of the most congested cities in the world.^[199]

Mumbai from Sky
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (formerly Sahar International Airport) is the main
aviation hub in the city and the busiest airport in India.^[200] The Juhu aerodrome was India's first airport, and now hosts a flying club and a heliport.^[201] The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport which is to be built in the Kopra-Panvel area has been sanctioned by the Indian Government and would help relieve the increasing traffic burden on the existing airport.^[202] Mumbai is served by two major ports, Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port.^[203] Mumbai Port has one of the best natural harbours in the world, and has extensive wet and dry dock accommodation facilities.^[204] Jawaharlal Nehru Port, commissioned on 26 May 1989, is the most modern major port in India.^[205] It handles 55–60% of the country's total containerized cargo.^[206] Mumbai is the headquarters of the Western Naval Command, and also an important base for the Indian Navy, Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.^[102] Ferries from Ferry Wharf in Mazagaon allow access to islands near the city