Marshrutka or marshrutnoe taksi (Russian and Ukrainian: маршру́тка , from marshrutn[oy]e taksi; plural marshrutki) or routed taxicab, are share taxis found in Eastern Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union. Usually vans, they drive along set routes, depart only when all seats are filled, and may have higher fares than buses. Passengers can board a marshrutka anywhere along its route if there are seats available.
Fares are usually paid before the marshrutka leaves; riders nearer the driver are responsible for handing up the other passengers' fares and passing back change.
Etymology
The Russian word маршрутка is the colloquial form for маршрутное такси, which literally means "routed taxi" (маршрут referring to a planned route that something follows, and такси meaning "taxi"). The word маршрут is from the German word Marschroute, which is composed of the words Marsch ("a walk, march") and Route ("route").
History
Early days (pre-1992) "Route taxicabs" were introduced in Moscow for the first time in the USSR in 1938, operated with ZiS-101 limousines. They offered ordinary people a chance to ride in luxurious ZiS cars, otherwise reserved for high officials. At first, they were meant mainly for tourists and serviced mainly stations and airports.
Unlike ordinary taxicabs using taximeters, routed taxicab rides are charged by zones, like trams, buses, and trolley buses. The fares ranked cheaper than those of ordinary taxis but higher than those of large-scale public transport. Unlike ordinary taxis, where a passenger could enjoy a private ride, the routed taxicab would pick up and drop passengers along its route. During communist rule, state-owned taxicab parks operated all marshrutkas.
Other large Soviet cities (apart from Moscow) organized routed taxis. For example, Gorky had a routed taxi line between Sormovo and the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. , the full fare was Rbls 3.50; a similar service cost 1 rouble by bus or 50 kopecks by tram.
During the World War II of 1941–1945, as the Red Army requisitioned cars, routed taxi services ceased. They resumed in Moscow in 1945. Only by the 1950s did they re-appear in most cities where they had operated before the war. ZiS-110 and GAZ-12 ZIM cars served widely in this role until the mid-1960s.
Routed taxicabs also offered interurban services. From Moscow, they drove to distant cities, like Simferopol, Kharkiv, Vladimir, Tula, and Riazan. For example, the Moscow-Yalta route operated in the summer, taking two days, with a night stop in Belgorod (near Kursk).
In the 1960s, RAF-977 minibusses became the most common routed-taxi vehicles, replacing passenger cars. Municipal authorities operated the routes; thus, the quality and concept varied greatly between regions. The fare gap between buses and routed taxicabs lessened. In Moscow, for example, the standard bus fare cost 5 kopecks, and the minibus fare was 15 kopecks on most routes; in Gorky a regular bus-ride cost 6 kopecks, and a routed-taxi ride 10 kopecks.
Later, the new model RAF-2203 Latvija (introduced in 1976) replaced the RAF-977 minibusses. Eventually, practically all marshrutka services used RAF-2203 Latvijas; many people referred to marshrutkas as "Latvias" or "RAFicks".
Marshrutka boom (1992–2000) The introduction of market economies greatly changed the supply of transportation to the urban population in the CIS. The demand for faster and more versatile public transit came to be fulfilled dramatically, while the demand for the underfunded municipal transportation system dropped; people were willing to pay a premium for better service. Although buses (like Ikarus, LAZ, PAZ, RAF, and KAvZ, as well as irregularly imported used minibusses), obtained on a secondary market, had been used by entrepreneurs as a backup on the busiest routes since the early 1990s, it was not until the auto manufacturer GAZ rolled out in 1996 the first mass-produced Russian minibus, GAZelle, that the modern system took shape.
GAZelle was an instant hit as it was a cheap (around US$8,000), easy-to-repair, and lease-friendly passenger minibus with a capacity of twelve seated passengers. A lot of individual entrepreneurs entered the market, as well as some larger companies. At this time, licensing for public transportation in particular was not required. The vehicle only had to pass annual safety check-ups, which were relatively easy, since local authorities trusted GAZ cars. Moreover, the GAZelle could be easily equipped to run on natural gas.
During this period, most marshrutkas followed well-established public transit routes.