Almaty Getting Around

Getting Around

It is best of all to have transportation by your company or by people whom you know. Especially when you are coming to Almaty airport, it is important to have someone arrange a taxi for you. The ride from the airport will cost about US$7. You should be careful to ask the person arranging the car beforehand for the name of your driver and have it written down. When you are in the city, if there is no possibility to have a car from your company , you might consider mass transit or a cab. There are buses, trolleybuses, and trams (streetcars) in Almaty. It is very difficult to know where this or that bus or trolleybus is going, so it is better to ask beforehand. There are no schedules available. If you know Russian, it will be much easier: you can ask people at a bus stop. There is another type of transportation, which is literally called "a route taxi". Those are little vans that work like buses having their own routes. As of February 2001 it cost 20 tenge (14 cents) to ride a bus, trolleybus or a tram. The vans are 30 tenge (21 cents). The best, but more expensive way of commuting is a taxi. If you need it, stand on the edge of a road and raise your hand. Very soon somebody will stop. The car wouldn�t necessarily have a "taxi" sign. You should tell the driver how much you are going to pay, because if you ask drivers how much it costs, they reply with the question how much you would like to pay. It will cost you 200 tenge (US$1.36) or less to ride from any point to another point within the city. You can also order a cab by phone. This is probably the safest and most expensive way to commute. They charge you by their meter. Remember that the mountains outside of town are critical to direction. When someone tells you to head "up," they are telling you to head towards the mountains. When someone tells you to head "down," they are telling you to head away from the mountains. Public buses and trolleys can take you around much of the city for affordable prices. Marshrutki (Russian: Маршрутки) are small privately owned vans which serve much the same purpose as buses, but at a higher price. But you can stop it as a taxi in any place. Taxis come in two types, those with "Taxi" painted on the side, and every other privately owned vehicle. If you want to go somewhere, stand on the curb and stick your arm out. Pretty soon someone will stop. Tell him where you want to go and negotiate a price (somewhere between 200 and 400 tenge (1,5 - 3 US Dollars) is a normal price for a foreigner taking a short trip).