Muscovites and visiting guests will soon be able to ride on overground and underground forms of transportation on the same ticket, a news report said Friday.
The tickets will be valid for 90 minutes, and customers will be able to travel an unlimited distance during that time, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported, citing City Hall transportation official Maxim Liksutov.
According to Liksutov, authorities settled on the 90-minute validity period to enable commuters living in Moscow's suburbs time to access the center, riding on buses, the metro and trams along the way.
While the cost of the new tickets is still in the discussion stage, the official said, authorities are insisting that the new system will be advantageous for Muscovites and tourists alike.
At present, tickets for the metro and bus, which must be bought separately, cost 28 rubles (85 cents) and 25 rubles (76 cents), respectively.
In a tourist-friendly measure, transportation officials are also planning to introduce tourist tickets, which will allow visitors to travel an unlimited distance on all forms of city transportation for periods of 24 hours, 48 hours and more.
When questioned about a time frame for the new ticket system, Liksutov said authorities were discussing rolling out the scheme in January or March of next year.
