Saint Petersburg public transportation system includes a metro, bus, trolley, tram and taxi. Water bus (or akvabas) also operates in the summer, but it carries a small number of passengers.
Get more information about public transportation in Saint Petersburg.
St. Petersburg is a big city. The distance from the shopping center Mega-Parnas in the northern part of the city to the airport Pulkovo south of the city is about 33 kilometers. The longest street in Saint Petersburg is Sofiyskaya. It has a length about 18.5 km. It is difficult to do without public transport in such a big city.
The cost of travel by public transport (2021).
- Subway token (one trip in the subway) - 60 rubles.
- One trip in the subway when paying with a Podorozhnik card - 41 rubles.
- One trip in ground transport (bus, tram, trolley) - 55 rubles.
- One trip in ground transport when paying with the Podorozhnik card - 36 rubles.
- Combined ticket (tram / trolley / bus) - 2195 rubles.
- Combined monthly ticket (tram, trolley bus, bus, metro) - 3255 rubles.
- Combined ticket for 90 minutes - 70 rubles.
Daily tickets (tram & trolleybus & bus & metro):
- For 1 day - 240 rubles.
- For 3 days - 460 rubles.
- For 5 days - 815 rubles.
Many buses have travel payment monitoring electronic devices (readers for use with passenger contactless smart cards of all kinds, which are mounted on the vertical rails of buses). To activate the ticket card (proximity card) must touch the reader (the validator). Without activation, travel is unpaid.
Sometimes it is more convenient to pay for the travel by contactless card. There are different types of cards. The most common of them is "Podoroznik". The contactless electronic card has price (a collateral value) 60 rubles. It is the card costs (the carrier). You need to load money for the fare on the card. There are different options for tickets. You can only pay for the subway, or only other transport modes (bus, trolleybus, tram) and all kinds of transportation by one card. Detailed information is available at all metro stations.
Card can be returned to the cashier and return its value. (According to feedbacks, users often have problems when try to return card).
Petersburg metro
The metro carries the largest number of passengers in St. Petersburg. It is the most convenient, fastest and safest form of transport. Subway in St. Petersburg operates from 15 November 1955. Petersburg has five subway lines with 65 stations. The length of all lines is more than 100 kilometers. Subway stations are located at the most important sites of the city.
For more information, please visit:
- Metro in St. Petersburg.
- Interactive map of the Saint Petersburg Metro.
- Metro Stations in St. Petersburg.
Despite the fact that the metro has a relatively large number of lines and stations, in many cases a bus is the only available mode of transport.
Bus service in St. Petersburg
The bus is the most common form of transportation in St. Petersburg. Bus routes are laid on almost every street of the city. There are many places you can reach only by bus or by taxi in the city.
Bus routes can be divided into two groups: the "social (municipal) routs" and "commercial routes".
Social (municipal) buses move on designated routes and make a stop at the bus stops only. Large buses usually are used on the social routes. Payment is usually made to conductor (sometimes to the driver). Different types of contactless smart cards (tickets for multiple trips) are also suitable for municipal buses.
Commercial buses stop at the passengers request in place for the exit of the bus and for boarding to the bus. The routes of buses sometimes may be changed. The fare on commercial buses can be more expensive up to 50%.
Route number of the commercial bus in before the numbers usually has the letter "K". Payment is usually made to the driver in cash when boarding the bus.
There are also commuter routes and long-distance routes.
There are about 300 social (municipal) city bus routes in Saint Petersburg. The total number of buses is more than 2500.
The number of commercial routes is more than 350, the total number of buses over 3500.
City bus routes have numbers, lying in the range from 1 to 399. Routes numbered 300 - 399, usually used on the suburban areas of the city.
Commuter routes buses transport passengers between St. Petersburg and nearby areas of the Leningrad region. They are numbered in the range of 400 to 699.
Trolleybus
There are more than 40 trolleybus routes, on which operates more than 700 trolleybuses in St. Petersburg. Fare in trolleybus paid to conductor. For trip are also valid various kinds of contactless smart cards.
Tram
Tram network in St. Petersburg was the largest in the world in the late 20th century, for what it was included in the Guinness Book of Records. There are 42 tram routes and more than 700 vans at present (2015) in the city. Passenger need to pay to conductor to travel by tram. For travel are also valid various kinds of contactless cards.
Akvabus
During the summer navigation (May to October) in St. Petersburg passengers transports also a water bus - akvabus. Ship tracks are mostly laid along the Neva River. In 2012, in St. Petersburg, there were 4 water bus routes. The cost of a ticket on most routes was 100 rubles.
Taxi
There are a large number of companies offering taxi service in St. Petersburg. A taxi can take you at any time, in any place of the city. But it will cost much more than public transport.
You also can get to the airport, to any settlement the Leningrad region as well as in Finland or Estonia by taxi.
It is impossible to list all taxi service on this page.
Here are some phone numbers that you can call a taxi in St. Petersburg:
+7 (812) 777-77-70
8-800-333-26-29
+7 (812) 666666-5
+7 (812) 600-8888
+7 (812) 490-88-88
You may also be interested in:
- Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.
- How to get from the airport to the city.
Be careful!
In public transport in St. Petersburg (as in many other large cities in the world) operates many thieves’ pickpockets. Keep money, documents and valuables in places inaccessible to thieves. Be especially careful in the subway, buses and trams, when there are many people around you.