Transportation as a Public Service in the USSR

This paper contains a description of the Soviet transport system, with its different kinds of services, and an analysis of transportation facts and figures. There is a high effectiveness of the system, with its large capacity to meet the people’s needs, its comparatively low fares and, at the same time, its satisfactory profits. These features of Soviet transport are related to the integration of all forms of transportation, to centralised management and planning, and to the system’s high technical level A very effective solution to the density problem of intra-city traffic is provided by public transportation, in particular the underground, in combination with other forms of transport The paper also includes information on the planning and co-ordination of transport and on problems of its further development.