The Ease of Transportation
Now back home in the States there is one major thing I miss about Germany and other parts of Europe: the ease of public transportation! After being in Europe for six weeks this summer I was rather surprised to find that I very rarely actually missed having or driving a car. There is a pleasant consistency in walking to a stop, picking up a train or bus, watching the world float by and arriving at your destination. I think of all of the hours it takes me to get and from work each year, and just how much i could be doing in those hours if I was a passenger instead of the driver. This post will be dedicated to all things transportation! Make sure to check the end for the curious practice of trust.
Public Transportation as an Energy-Saving Method
Green technology on the other hand is a high priority, which in a summer of record-breaking temperatures across Europe, was an inspiration. To the detriment of this hot American, air conditioning is limited in many buildings, restaurants and even on public transportation. We had a couple of rather sweaty bus rides, but for the sake of energy conservation I can’t really complain. In addition to energy saving measures, evidence of renewable energies were present both in and out of the cities. There were wind turbines on the hillsides and solar panels on many roofs throughout town.
Transportation adds so much angst about energy, fuel, and money to many Americans lives as we figure out just how we’re going to afford another $5/gallon tank of gas. Gas prices soared in Europe this summer as well, yet I witnessed several established and new approaches to help combat this.
Even when not in an energy crisis, public transportation in Bonn and Berlin was amazing. Simple to use, you could hop on trains, trams, or buses and get to just about anywhere in the city. This summer the government of Germany created the 9-Euro ticket, which allowed any ticket holder to use any public transportation in the country (except long distance high speed trains)! The 9-euro ticket was created to help ease the burden of rapidly rising fuel, energy, and other living costs. There is also hope that this cheap fare will turn car drivers into public transport converts, reducing fossil fuel consumption. An unintended positive from this ticket was shared with me by a teacher at HBG. He said there have been reports of popular vacation destinations being more crowded this summer as people who could not afford expensive travel before are utilizing the 9E ticket! Which is amazing! I’d go hike in Hocking Hills every weekend if it would cost $10 instead of a $50 tank of gas! As wonderful as the 9E ticket is (over 21 million were sold in the first month!), the fares are unfortunately set to go back to the standard price as of September 1st 2022.
The Size of Things
Another interesting observation about transportation is the size of most personal vehicles. Ohio is the land of over-sized pickup trucks, giant kid-carting SUVs and luxury sedans. My own car, a small VW Golf, fits in way better with the other cars of Germany than the parade of trucks on my own block at home. Many of the cars were electric or hybrid cars and charging stations were spotted frequently outside of homes and businesses. This makes sense since nearly 14% of cars registered last year were electric or hybrid.
As we walked throughout the streets of Bonn and Berlin i was fascinated by the unfamiliar card brands. Or even more so at the unfamiliar models of familiar car brands! Did you know there are two different VW cars smaller than a Golf? The small size of the cars lends itself to smaller parking spaces, narrow streets, and of course tend to use much less gas making them more environmentally friendly. I loved seeing smaller motor scooters used for transportation as well.
Bikes as far as the eye can see!
In addition to public transportation, bicycles seem to be a popular way to get around. Every rack I saw had bikes stacked 4-5 deep. Adorned with baskets on the front handlebars, behind the seat or both, these bikes are made for function. It was not uncommon to watch a whole flock of bikers jostling for position as a light would turn green on a busy road, baskets full of groceries.
Biking through towns in the flatter parts of Germany is really an excellent way to cover a lot of ground relatively quickly. And these towns and cities are built for bikers! Bike lanes are common and plentiful, and we learned very quickly to not stand or walk in them for fear of being run into. On a day in Munich I made frequent use of the bike lanes to get around the city on a rented scooter. It was a fabulous way to see the city more intimately than in a car, but with the ability to cover more ground than walking. Having dedicated bike lanes made this adventure feel very safe since I could wander without fear of cars.
Public Trust as an Institution
Transportation allowed me to witness something really inspiring in Bonn: Trust.
Public Trust #1: Public Transit
In most public transportation I have been on around the States and in Japan, customers buy their ticket in the station, show or scan the ticket to get to the tracks or onto a bus, and frequently the ticket is checked again on the train itself by an attendant. This is not the case in Germany. You can indeed buy tickets in the stations, but there are also ticket machines inside the trains and buses themselves, allowing a customer to quickly get on before having to mess around with buying a ticket. But here's where trust in the system comes in. You see, you never actually scan your ticket or pass. Not when you enter the track, not when you get on a tram or bus. No one is walking through the train asking for tickets, its just trusted and assumed you do indeed have a ticket. If you are caught without one you receive a fine and have to buy a ticket. What does this say about how our system is sun? This will definitely change how i see the subways in NYC and DC.
Public Trust #2: Bikes
Our first morning at Hardtberg Gymnasium was a brilliant blue day, one of the last of the school year. As we were waiting to meet our teachers, scores of kids rode up on bikes, hopped off and leaned them against racks in front of the school. Not a single kid used a bike lock. After witnessing this I wondered if it was just because the students were young and in a protected place, or if this was a bigger societal practice.
Reading the news, it can seem like open season on stealing bikes in certain areas of the US! When you lock your bike up you need to do so in a way that the front tire isn't stolen, the seat isn't pulled off and taken, that is the item the bike is locked to can't be stolen itself Bike thefts have become an issue in part because of their resale value on sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Side note: check out the Bike Batman of Seattle, a helpful citizen that recovers stolen bikes! He reunites the stolen bikes with their thankful owners.
Yet in Bonn, most of the bikes in racks were not locked at all. Also, bikes were almost always leaned against racks, not in random areas like against buildings or under trees. They were were they were supposed to be stored. I would worry about being able to distinguish my bike amongst so many others, but apparently bike theft happens very very rarely. This is a radical thought and realization after always being so careful when locking up my own bike. I'm curious if this is the same across the country? Does this trust in others extend to other things as well, like locking car doors when a vehicle is parked?
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