Routes of minibuses in Bishkek. Public transport in Bishkek. Low prices, but dead minibuses. Help Desk Rules

Perhaps, this is still the most popular mobile application for Bishkek residents - Bus.kg allows a person to find out how to get from point A to point B on a Bishkek minibus, as well as a bus or trolleybus.

In a little over two weeks, it was installed on more than 5,000 smartphones, according to statistics from the Google Play online store, and this seems to be an unprecedented number for an application from Kyrgyzstan.

The creators hit the mark - the people of Bishkek and especially the guests of the capital needed a tool like air to help them sort out the chaos of the intricacies of transport routes.

In order to understand how to get from point A to point B in Bishkek using public transport, you need to live here for a considerable amount of time.

There are a number of reasons for this: descriptions of stops on minibuses, buses and trolleybuses are written in very small print; no barkers announce the route and, moreover, one can count on the fingers the stops where their name would be written.

To make life even more difficult for passengers, minibus drivers often stop outside of stops.

Bus.kg solves many of these problems - in the application or on their official website, you can indicate two points on the map of Bishkek and you will be offered all the most suitable public transport routes with the nearest stops.

This application was developed by a small team of programmers from the Incubasia company.

"It was not the main job"

We met with a representative of the company, a young girl Nargiza Akunbek kyzy, who holds the position of a marketing specialist, in one of the coffee shops in Bishkek.

“We have had this idea for a long time. We wanted to try our hand - [what if] we create a mobile application that would be useful for society, for citizens?” - says Akunbek kyzy.

According to her, the idea was discussed for a long time and a lot, but the team began to really work on the project in February 2013.

Nargiza Akunbek kyzy “We didn't devote all our time to this project. He was given only part of the working time,” she says.

The company "Incubasia" is mainly engaged in the creation of websites and has never made mobile applications before.

However, its debut product in this segment was generally liked by users.

Process of creation

First, according to Nargiza, the algorithm of the application was written - it took about three to four months, with about two to three hours of work per day.

“It helped the engineers that we have a small team. Someone is working on the iOs version, someone on the Android version, someone on the algorithm. And they were constantly in contact with each other, and the size of the team made it easier to solve problems, ”she says.

After the algorithm was created, the developers went to the Bishkek mayor's office, namely the City Transport Department (UGT), to get maps of all routes.

“We probably came to the right person in the mayor's office,” recalls Akunbek kyzy.

“There was a person who is responsible for planning these route schemes. We went out and asked for directions. At first they explained what it was for, and they gave diagrams for one day. We made copies the same day and returned [the card] the next day,” she says.

The Bishkek authorities helped the application developers with route maps. According to Nargiza, the Bishkek mayor's office really helped the developers. But, before taking a route map, the company had to write a letter to the head of the UGT with a promise to return all materials the next day.

After the release of the application, the fact that there were no recently introduced routes among the routes immediately caught my eye.

According to the representative of "Incubasia", the problem with the frequency of updating routes in Bus.kg is already being solved.

“Recently, the mayor's office remembered us again. In the future, we will receive all information, all updates from them,” Akunbek kyzy says.

According to her, the company wants to negotiate with the municipality so that, in the event of changes in the movement of public transport in Bishkek, the mayor's office informs the Incubasia team, and they, in turn, enter these changes into their database.

Future plans

So far, the application is available only to Internet users from personal computers, as well as to owners of Android phones.

But already in September, a version for the iOS operating system will be available for free download, which is installed on iPhones, iPads and iPods.

The project is still available for free download and use, but the company is thinking about ways to commercialize the application - advertising may soon appear there.

But Incubation promises it won't be intrusive, as is usually the case on smartphone apps.

Also, the development team is thinking about creating a promotional video that will be distributed on the Internet.

“Since our audience is those people who use the Internet, of course, the Internet is the main place where we will promote. As for television and billboards - hardly,” says a marketing specialist.

The creators of the application also hope for the support of local authorities in the promotion of Bus.kg.

App rating from site

Ulugbek Akishev:

The app is very helpful. I will say right away that I used it several times when I did not know how to get to a particular place and did not get lost. Among the advantages, I would like to highlight the following:

By entering a route into Bus.kg on your smartphone, you get in response five possible routes to the desired place (if there are so many, of course). Each route is accompanied by the following information: distance to the nearest stop, distance on public transport and distance to the end point.

There are all existing public transport routes in Bishkek - minibuses, buses, trolleybuses.

Ability to use the application offline.

Bektur Iskender:

Okay, Ulugbek exclusively praises this application, and then I will point out the shortcomings. The biggest inconvenience for me is that the application does not display a transfer option if there is no direct route.

For example, I often run between the 12th microdistrict and Zhilgorodok of the Council of Ministers. These two regions are not connected by any route. I always travel between them with a transfer, changing transport at the South Gate.

Alas, the application does not give me such an option. As a rule, I am offered to drive, for example, from the 12th microdistrict to the South Gate, and from there to cut a few kilometers on foot to the Zhilgorodok of the Council of Ministers. Or vice versa.

It seems to me that displaying just such options would be of particular value, because even residents of the small town of Bishkek may not realize how sometimes there are more convenient ways to travel between points of the city than they used to use.

Of course, such an application was needed. While I have lived in Bishkek all my life, I have already used it several times and - most importantly! - learned about hitherto unknown routes through alternative streets that I had never used.

The only thing I'm worried about is that someday, I'm sure, the routes of Bishkek transport will be laid in Google maps. And then the creators of Bus.kg will either have to come up with something fundamentally new, or fight with a global corporation.

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Manas airport

International airport in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It is located 23 km from the center of Bishkek. This is a two-story, small and convenient building for its purpose. It cooperates with 16 airlines, serves approximately 40 flights per day. We ordered our vacation tickets. The airport has only one terminal, but it copes with the needs of passengers. As soon as we arrived, we were able to immediately exchange Russian rubles for local currency at the airport, there are already four exchange points!

We received our luggage in comfortable conditions, in a well-equipped block, with almost no queues, the only thing is unclear why it was checked after arrival. It is difficult to get lost at the airport, there are signs everywhere, it is better to trust them, and not contact the help desk, they did not answer our questions.

Everyone who flies on an international flight must go up to the second floor, and those who move within the country remain on the first floor. The screening service at the entrance to the airport checks very carefully, even children are examined! Pre-flight control is even stricter than at the entrance, everyone is seen as a threat to society. Employees work with stone faces, we never got a smile.) They are demanding on the weight of luggage, it should not be more than 20 kg, hand luggage up to 5 kg. We outweighed by 200 grams, I had to put on a couple of sweaters. The departure hall is large and comfortable. Duty-Free flaunts in the center, though with a small selection, but the prices are a little cheaper than ours. There are also a couple of shops with gifts in the hall, but the prices there are already clearly higher than in Bishkek itself. We also liked the huge windows in the waiting room, from which you can see the landing and departing planes. This is an amazing sight! You can find more detailed information on the official website.

How to get from the airport to Bishkek by bus

The bus stop is 100 meters from the arrivals area. Buses are small, without a luggage compartment. If you have a lot of things with you, it will be inconvenient for you to ride in it.