In these walkways, there are often small shops selling everything from souvenirs to baked goods to clothes. It is a really easy way to get everything you need during your commute home.
At first, I was very nervous about riding a marshrutka. I had ridden them during my previous trips to Russia, but always with other people, so I was not the one who had to yell "stop" at the correct moment. Even in Omsk, my first couple of marshrutka rides were with others who were able to get the driver's attention. However, I was able to conquer my fear on my way home from the gym one evening. A marshrutka was the first vehicle that arrived to the stop where I was waiting, so I decided that it was as good a time as ever to conquer my fear. Luckily, there was a woman who was getting out at the same stop as me and told the driver to stop before I had a chance to. Nevertheless, I knew that I could successfully ride a marshrutka, and since then, have successfully told the driver to stop many times.
Public transportation became an important part of city life during the Soviet Union, when not everyone had enough money to buy their own vehicle. After the fall of the Soviet Union, personal vehicles became more common, and are now very common in every city that I have visited. However, because there is such great access to public transportation all over the country, many people still use that as a cheap and efficient way of getting around.
