Marshrutka

Marshrutka (Russian: [mɐrˈʂrutkə]), from marshrutn[oy]e taksi routed taxicab, is a form of public transportation such as a share taxi for the countries of CIS, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Georgia and Syria. The role of the modern marshrutka is theoretically similar to the share taxi, that use minibuses in other countries.

The Russian word "" is the colloquial form for "", which literally means "routed taxi(cab)" ("" referring to a planned route that something follows, and "" meaning "taxi(cab)"). The word "" is from the German word "", which is composed of the word "" (a walk, march) and "" (route).

"Route taxicabs" were introduced in Moscow for the first time in the USSR in 1938, operated by ZiS-101 limousines. They offered ordinary people their only chance to ride in luxurious ZiS cars, otherwise reserved for high officials. At first they were meant mainly for tourists and serviced mainly stations and airports. Unlike ordinary taxicabs using taximeters, routed taxicab rides charged by zones, like trams, buses and trolley buses; the fares ranked cheaper than those of ordinary taxis, but higher than in large-scale public transport. Unlike ordinary taxis, where a passenger could enjoy a private ride, the routed taxicab would also pick up and drop passengers along its route. During communist rule, state-owned taxicab parks operated all marshrutkas.

Other large Soviet cities apart from Moscow also organized routed taxis. For example, Gorky had a routed taxi line between Sormovo and the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. As of 1939^[update], the full fare was 3½ roubles; a similar service cost 1 rouble with a bus, or 50 kopecks with a tram.

...
Wikipedia