10'th International Meeting of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare
Local Information
Dear conference participants, friends and colleagues!
Thank you very much for your interest in attending the 10th International Meeting of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare. We are looking forward to welcome you soon in Russia and do sincerely hope that you will enjoy your visit to Moscow. Meanwhile, we would like to give here a few recommendations and warnings that you might find useful, especially if you are in Moscow for the first time.
There are several ways to get to the city center from an airport. The most convenient ones are the taxi or a combination express train+metro/express train+taxi (the latter might be a better choice due to traffic jams, especially if you arrive at Sheremetyevo airport). In case you decide to hire a taxi, please take official taxi carriers only (you may do that at the special taxi desks inside the airport). Here are lists of official carriers for Sheremetyevo (SVO) and Domodedovo (DME).
In case you decide to take an express train (recommended), follow the signs "Train" or "Aeroexpress" to the railway stations. From SVO you can get to Belorusskiy railway station (nearest metro station "Belorusskaya"; see timetable and related information here), while from DME you can get to Paveletskiy railway station (nearest metro station "Paveletskaya"; timetable and related information is here).
From each of the railway stations you can take either a taxi or the metro to get to your hotel. Here is the official scheme of Moscow metro (unfortunately, English titles are hardly readable, so please also see (a bit outdated, but still useful) metro maps here and here). The stations of the Moscow Metro are open 5:30 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Please, look after your personal belongings all the time. Main streets and public places are always crowded in Moscow, so it can be easy for pickpockets to incidentally get close to you. Furthermore, the crowds make it more difficult for both car drivers and pedestrians to avoid accidents, so please be especially careful while crossing the streets, even if the traffic light is green.
Please avoid making money exchange in small kiosks off the main streets, since they can give you fake banknotes. Try to find an exchange ATM or a bank office instead.
If you see someone incidentally losing a thick bundle of money (usually, dollars/euros), do not pick it up to return to the owner under any circumstances; it is a common fraudulent trick intended to make you part with your own money.
Also, please avoid eating in open tents/booths on the streets because the food there can be unhealthy. Sometimes, even small cafes may not be trusted. For the list of places we recommend, see the appendix to the conference program (available at http://www.hse.ru/conf/sscw2010). All of them are located within walking distance to the conference venue (Pokrovskiy boulevard, 11).
There are three metro station hubs closest to the conference venue: "Turgenevskaya"/"Sretensky Bulvar"/"Chistye Prudy" (stations are connected); "Kitay-Gorod"; or "Kurskaya"/"Chkalovskaya" (stations are connected).
Here is the map of Moscow, where we placed a few marks that can be useful.
If you get out of "Kitay-gorod" metro station (mark 6) (the Church of All Saints should be to your left when you exit the station), please, turn to the right and go along Солянский (Solyansky) alley, turn to the right to Солянка (Solyanka) street and go on until you see Подколокольный (Podkolokol'ny) alley on your left. Follow this bystreet until it crosses Покровский (Pokrovsky) boulevard, then go straight to the HSE main entrance (mark 1). (See a scheme of this route.)
When you get out of metro from "Chkalovskaya"/"Kurskaya" metro station (mark 7) you will face Kurskiy Railway station, so turn around and go back about 40 meters to reach Земляной вал (Zemlyanoy val) street. Turn to the left and go along the street until you see a pedestrian underpass in front of you, go inside and turn to the right after the stairs to cross the street and once more before the stairs going up to get to the ground. Turn around, go forward until the crossing of your side of Земляной вал (Zemlyanoy val) street with Воронцово поле (Vorontsovo pole) street, then go to your right (now it should be Воронцово поле (Vorontsovo pole) street). Follow the street until it crosses Покровский (Porkovsky) boulevard, then go straight to the HSE main entrance (mark 1). Or if you get off metro from other exits of Kurskaya/Chkalovskaya station (marks 8 and 9), go either directly to Земляной вал (Zemlyanoy val) street or first go to mark 7 leaving Kurskiy Railway station on your left; then follow the instructions listed above. (See a scheme of this route.)
If you get out from "Chistye prudy" metro station (mark 3, the statue of Alexander Griboedov will be in front of you), go straight along Чистопрудный (Chistoprudny) boulevard, pass by the pond, go on forward until you reach Покровка (Pokrovka) street. Cross the street and go on straight along either side of Покровский (Porkovsky) boulevard until you see Дурасовский (Durasovsky) alley on the left (hence it is better to go along the left side). Here you can enter either through HSE second entrance (mark 2), or go on to the main entrance (mark 1).
Alternatively, from "Chistye prudy" metro station (mark 3) you can take any tram (a tram stop is directly at the exit from the metro) and get off the tram at "Казарменный переулок" (Kazarmenny pereulok) tram stop. It is a third stop from Chistye Prudy metro station. The tickets can be purchased inside a tram.
If you get out from "Turgenevskaya"/"Sretenskiy bulvar" metro station (mark 5) you need to cross Мясницкая (Myasnitskaya) street first. Then follow the instructions given in the previous paragraph.
Should you have any questions, please, do not hesitate and contact us by e-mail.
We wish you a safe and pleasant trip to Moscow.
Sincerely,
© 