Despite the plans to switch to virtual cards, the State Unitary Enterprise Organizer of Transportations hopes that Podorozhnik cards will survive for 5–7 years. The head of the travel documents implementation department SUE Organizer of Transportations Natalia Dedushkina told how the design of Podorozhnik changed and why it found its admirers among collectors. Today at the meeting of Podorozhnik collectors, which was held as part of the International Innovative Forum of Passenger Transport SmartTRANSPORT and the International Transport Infrastructure Forum, she made a presentation of all transport cards Podorozhnik for the last 10 years.

Natalia Dedushkina told how in 2011 the first Podorozhnik cards with a green design and ladybug were issued, but then collectors did not appreciate the novelty, and now such cards are highly valued because they were issued in very small numbers – only 8.6 thousand pieces. SUE Organizer of Transportations regularly issues cards with new designs, associated with various events. For example, on the map of 2013 for the 310th anniversary of St. Petersburg, there was a painting by artist Nikolai Dobrovolsky “Here the city will be laid”, where Peter the Great is looking at a sailboat on the banks of the Neva.

As Natalia Dedushkina noted, “After the issue lawyers asked a logical question: who owns the rights to the image?” “We spent a few days looking for the author, and it turned out that he died more than 80 years ago, and the picture can be used. But then we all nearly became gray,” said Natalia Dedushkina.

In 2015, for the first time we issued themed Podorozhnik cards, associated with the International Car Free Day. There were also Podorozhnik cards, dedicated to the 75th Anniversary of Victory, the opening of the Crimean Bridge, every 5 years the cards celebrate the anniversary of St. Petersburg transport. And in 2018 the pre-election Podorozhnik was issued, which at the presentation Natalia Dedushkina commented with the words “Everything is clear here”. Special Podorozhnik cards were made for the football and hockey world championships, and next year there will be cards for the finals of the Champions League and the World Volleyball Championship.

It takes at least 4 months to produce each design, and for major projects like Podorozhnik cards for the World Cup – about a year. “We send them (UEFA and FIFA) designs every time, and we’ve never had them accept our options on the first try,” said Natalia Dedushkina. They try to produce Podorozhnik cards in a variety of forms, including in the form of trinkets. “When we conceived the idea of producing such form, no one was doing that at the time, and we really wanted St. Petersburg to be the first,” said Natalia Dedushkina.