Find Love In Traffic Jams

Russia: Drivers Find Love In Traffic Jams

Traffic in Russia's capital ranks among the very worst in the world.

According to an IBM poll, it is in the top five worst traffic cities with average delays of 2.5 hours - but the endless queues can have a silver lining.

Traffic jams have become as synonymous with Moscow as Red Square and fur hats. Rush hours bleed into round the clock jams with weary Muscovites resigned to the inevitable stuttered creep home.

The unsuitably named Garden Ring is the vast concrete orbital that circumvents the city. The choked artery frequently becomes as frozen as the temperatures. Volume of traffic is the big issue: Moscow has six times the number of cars it did in 1991. Key roads are regularly closed to allow the motorcades of top officials to pass.

Some 40% of people say they have been stuck for more than three hours. But for a growing number of frustrated drivers that is not idle time. Tablets, laptops and other devices are becoming part of the car furniture.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians rely on the search engine Yandex to warn of traffic hotspots and perhaps even more importantly provide some fellow feeling among the unmoving masses.

Drivers swap moans of never changing lights and pesky police - not the most romantic of exchanges but for Tatyana and Mickhail Sanadze it did the trick.

Tatyana said: "I asked in the chat room the best route to a park - avoiding traffic.  And someone replied to my plea and it was my future husband, who brilliantly explained how to get to our destination. This is how we met!"

Sitting in the passenger seat, iPad in hand, her husband Mikhail added: "Moscow traffic played a big role in our destiny.

"Inconvenience for everyone became a lucky lottery ticket for us.  I think if the traffic wasn't as bad, we wouldn't have met each other."

It may fuel the odd romance but traffic is not doing much for Moscow's economy, costing it billions of pounds each year.

Most couriers can only offer a minimum three hour or next day delivery service but one company has seen an opportunity.

Quikfrog promises that by two legs, two wheels or four, it will deliver in less than an hour, meaning the couriers themselves have one of the most challenging jobs in the Russian capital, dodging queues and weaving in and out of clogged lanes.

Co-founder Alexander Bortenev said: "The negative situation with traffic is not only stifling business, it stifles society and affects people's attitudes. It eats up 1.5 % of Russia's GDP.

"I went to Germany recently where they lose 62 billion euros to traffic. Knowing Moscow, we could easily double or triple that sum."

The chaos frequently extends outside Moscow. Some reports claimed a recent queue to St Petersburg stretched for 120 miles with drivers waiting in freezing conditions for two days.

With three more months of winter to go, drivers across Russia can only brace themselves for what feels like the inevitable.