[Helena Bonham Carter]

Hi there. I wanna discuss a problem that we all are connected with – traffic jams!
In Moscow roads occupy only 8,7% of the city territory. It is scanty little! The road territory should reach at least 20%. For comparison in the tiniest megapolises of the world - Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo it`s 10-12%. In the most correctly arranged cities like USA, Canada and Australia - this indicator reaches 35%.
We commute 2 hours every day as a minimum. 5 days a week. That`s an extra week of work each month. That`s upsets me.
I think that “we” should start with rail facilities. A railway should be built underground or overland like in America. It will give us a lot of extra space. Oh, and metropolitan area… This ring was a bad idea! For example, it takes us 26 minutes to get from Octyabrskoe pole to Sokol as they only 1,8 km away from each other. So it`s time loss again. The same goes with cars. In most cases you have max 3 different routes to your destination point in Moscow. And 2 of these routes would usually go through the center with its narrow streets. So all drivers use same roads and that produces traffic jams.

What do you think? How can we solve this problem?

[Shaos]

Helena Bonham Carter,are you a “Project Russia” reader? I`ve seen this data there last month.

I think this fact is just one link of the long chain of our everyday absurdity. Cars were not scheduled in any plans of Moscow. I`m just an ignoramus but I do love Moscow and I`m interested in its history and development. I read this community in the LJ - http://community.liv...com/ru_sovarch/ . There are lots of interesting and very useful information about our city. It`s Russia, it is not America. Do you remember – the Soviet citizen doesn`t go to the bakery by car! That was not just a motto - that was the town planning principle.
And now we have to live here – with our cars, without roads.

And here is my solving of the problem (let`s change the world! We can do it, we are the champions… and so forth):

• Change the city. (I`d like London or Singapore.)
  
• Use the helicopter. (I fear the height.)
  
• Optimize our life in view of our location.
  
• Live closely to the city center and go to work in antiphase.
  
• Live in antiphase in general.
  
• Never, never leave our dream houses.
  
• Write petitions, letters, appeals… Whole our life is struggle .

[Helena Bonham Carter]

Shaos,
Thank you for your answer.
No i’m not a “Project Russia” reader. Googled the percentage just to be sure.
I believe that this city was planned, re-planned and re-re-planned over and over again. It’s hard to believe that cars were never actually scheduled to be. Maybe what really was never forecasted is the gigantic increase in number of locals and cars that started in 90s?!.
Could you please elaborate a little bit on your recommendations?

[Dmblock]

It goes without saying that the most of streets and highways were constructed at that time when nobody thought there would be so many cars on these. Housing density is enormous and there are not many ways for expansion of the roads. In fact expansion of the roads could be one of the ways of solving the problem. I think it’s much more important that Moscow citizens do not comply with parking rules and traffic regulations. Drivers park their cars everywhere disregarding parking rules. They allege that they have some problems with finding free places for cars. But a lot of paid parking places are left empty because people grudge their money. To my mind the government should put traffic choked streets in order. It must make drivers carry out parking rules. However, nowadays there are no concrete solutions for traffic jams. It takes a lot of time to manage it.