About Transport

In 1897 in Krasnoyarsk there were 205 coachmen, and by 1912 335 “passenger” coachmen, 242 “workhorse” ones (for heavy load delivery) and 112 “water carrier” coachmen were already on the roads. Those times 60 000 residents of the city in total served 700 carriages, good runs and carts.

To become a coachman, one needed to have a horse and an application, submitted to the city government, a letter of recommendation and a passport. After successful recruitment, a “horse driver” was given two vehicle number plates and a leather bag with “tax”. A working day lasted from 8 in the morning to 11 in the evening, there were some coachmen appointed for night work, who moved around the city till 6 o’clock in the morning. The fee for their services was 1,5 times bigger, but it was officially, in fact the prices were raised even higher.

The decree of the Governor himself required from every coachman to have neat clothes, control the cleanliness of the carriage and be attentive and polite with the passengers. But a critical article in the Yenisey newspaper in 1894 tells that in fact everything was otherwise:

«We have already pointed out for several times the necessity of taking serious measures to stop furious riding in the city... So, some time ago someone K., rushing on a pair of white horses, not only knocked a boy down, but even cut the skin on his head. Recently, a man was raised in the street, and, according to his words, he was crushed by horses too”.

Over a century has already passed, but nothing has changed, besides the type of transport…

By the way, the first car owners appeared in Krasnoyarsk in 1909. In the same year in the city government an obligatory decree about car driving was issued. Among its points there were:

● the total weight of a car with passengers mustn’t be over 200 poods (3276 kg);
● the speed of driving mustn’t be over 10-12 verst an hour (≈ 11-13 km an hour);
● the cars should follow the right side of the street, produce neither smoke, nor steam: they must not scare coachmen and carriages;
● only people above 18, who do not suffer from  such illnesses as deafness, myopia and others, are allowed to drive.

Based on the materials by newslab.ru