Actually, the bus stations were (and still are) used by a lot of people! Car owning in USSR was nowhere near the levels of western countries and the majority of

Actually, the bus stations were (and still are) used by a lot of people! Car owning in USSR was nowhere near the levels of western countries and the majority of people relied on public transportation. The article has a reference to Jonathan Meades' photobook in which there is a photo of the bus station in one of the Republic of Moldova villages called Șipoteni¹. They "seem to be in the middle of nowhere" indeed, because the main roads/routes don't always come into the middle of the villages but at the right time these stations are full of people that may wait up to a half an hour there. It was just natural for the authorities to try to exceed themselves in the eyes of the villagers as there aren't many opportunities for them to do so! (Villagers didn't use to need much from the system.) ¹ http://fuel-design.com/media/uploads/thumbs/uploads/homepage/138-139_jpg_940x376_q95.jpg http://fuel-design.com/media/uploads/thumbs/uploads/homepage...