Yekaterinburg Residents Outraged by Soaring Taxi Fares
On January 22, taxi prices in Yekaterinburg skyrocketed. The culprit was the bad weather — temperatures in the city dropped below -30°C (-22°F). It was cold even on public transport, so many decided to commute from work to home by car.
To get from the center to the Botanika district, one had to pay 1,200 rubles (about $16 at current rates). Roughly the same amount was charged for trips to the Akademichesky district. Yekaterinburg residents were, to put it mildly, unhappy with such prices.
«Did taxi services suddenly switch to Moscow pricing? I pay these prices in Moscow!» wrote a female reader of E1.RU.
«Yekaterinburg will soon outpace Moscow in prices, just wait a bit and we»ll overtake,« added another.
«Such prices are due to the weather and traffic jams. At this time, it»s a common occurrence. At other times, it«s much cheaper,» shared a Yekaterinburg woman.
However, some readers saw no difference and considered the prices quite normal.
«I»m riding now, from Verkhnyaya Pyshma (a nearby town) to the Theater of Young Spectators — 580 rubles (about $8), and even in comfort. I«m surprised,» wrote a Yekaterinburg man.
«I traveled quite budget-friendly today during the day and morning, three times,» reported Irina.
«We were also surprised, given the freeze. Less than a thousand rubles (about $13) for three trips from the center to the Zavodskoy district, the first of which was comfort plus. Poor taxi drivers,» added a reader.
Meteorologists say that the frost was brought by an anticyclone. And the -30-degree temperatures in the Urals will persist in the coming days, until Saturday, January 24. About how Yekaterinburg endured today«s frost, we are reporting in real-time.
Also read the weather forecast for the entire January.
