Muscovites complain about traffic jams

Everyday, over 3 MLN cars cram onto Moscow's roads, causing traffic jams and headaches for everyone living or working in the city.  Both authorities and drivers are trying to find solutions to the daily chaos.

The topic is on everyone's lips in the city, because no driver can escape the chaos – except except VIP state officials.

“I live abroad and I've never seen such frequent convoys of state officials. They can block the road for half hour to an hour. It is very annoying,” said driver Velimir Gashich.

Another way to escape is not to drive at all. “Just walk to work” say those behind the antiprobka.ru project in Moscow.

“Moscow can be free of traffic jams if people would stop driving to work. Everyone who is looking for job openings should look for those close to home or swap with someone with a similar job whose office is further away,” comments Sterligov German, antiprobka.ru founder.

A plan sounds good on paper, but only Moscow's elite can put it into practice.

The road traffic police closely monitor the situation on the roads, and try to keep things moving.

Illegal parking is another major problem in Moscow.

“We have all kinds of drivers in Moscow, many inexperienced, many who think only of themselves, they park wherever it's convenient, and don't always follow simple road rules,” said Bulain Dmitriy, traffic officer of duty.

The State automobile inspection agency's solution is to try to discipline the legendarily aggressive Moscow driver and reduce the 1.500 accidents on the capitals road, every day.

While Moscow city's planners say building more roads is crucial for the capital.

Krestmeyn Michail, Moscow City Planning Institute specialist: “We built the third ring to provide an additional 35 km of roads, but the city needs around ten times that. We are now building the fourth ring, along with destination highways to relieve frequently congested areas. We are also adding more parking spaces, and we need to expand our metro system as well”.