In order to use the subway, you need to buy a subway token, which costs 6 roubles (approximately $0.53). Tokens are sold at the cashiers inside the stations, near the entrance. Magnetic cards for multiple rides are also available.
Cards with a limited validity period are cheaper than unlimited ones with the same number of rides. A monthly 70-rides card costs 270 roubles and can be bought from the 10th till the 20th of the current month. It runs from the 16th of the current month till the15th of the next month. The surface transportation pass must be filled out with the number printed on the subway card if you want to avoid being fined. The card can be returned to subway cashiers at the end of the month for a 6 rouble refund.
Map of the metro in SPB.
The first plans to build a metro in St. Petersburg were drawn in 1899, but were not implemented due to the outbreak of WWI and then the Revolution of 1917. In 1941, 8 years after the Moscow metro was opened, building was started on the Leningrad metro, but a few months later the U.S.S.R. was forced to enter WWII. After the war the construction work resumed and the first metro line (from Avtovo to Ploschad Vosstania) was opened on November 15, 1955. Since then the metro network has grown to four lines with an average of 1.9 km (1.19 miles) between its 55 stations.