 In 2013, the system carried 328.3 million passengers, which averages to a daily ridership of approximately 899,450.During the 1950s–1970s the population of the city soared over a million and designs for a rapid transit system were initially put up during the late 1960s.Construction began on 3 May 1977, and the system was opened to the public on 30 June 1984, becoming the ninth metro system in the Soviet Union.