this pic<\/a>\u00a0and commentary.)<\/p>\nBut there are a few noteworthy aspects of the various mass transit systems that sure had me wishing U.S. systems would adopt them.<\/p>\n
First, an integrated fare structure. \u00a0Here in Chicago, fares are entirely separate for Metra, the commuter rail, and the CTA, which means that if you need to get anywhere besides just downtown Chicago, you pay twice, at the full fare. \u00a0No reduced cost transfers. \u00a0This makes it considerably more costly to take transit to non-downtown destinations, and reduces the number of transit users overall, especially because parking is generally not an expense if you\u2019re headed somewhere outside of downtown \u2014 that is, where there\u2019s a parking lot.<\/p>\n
Pretty much everywhere in Europe, you pay a fare that\u2019s good for any type of transit, for instance, from bus to streetcar to subway to suburban train, in Munich.<\/p>\n
Second, daily and weekly capping. \u00a0This was what was on offer in London, and it was mighty reassuring to know that, rather than having to guess, on any given day, whether you\u2019d use mass transit enough to warrant a day pass, you could use transit as usual and, after your third trip, you\u2019d hit the daily cap and not have to pay anything more. \u00a0(And, incidentally, in Chicago, the day passes are so expensive that you have to intend to make quite a number of trips to have it be worth the money.)<\/p>\n
Third, the \u201cpartner day ticket\u201d in Munich. \u00a0This is a really, really good deal. \u00a0For basically the price of two single day tickets, you can take up to five adults or 10 kids (that is, two kids count as one adult). \u00a0This is clearly designed to make mass transit cost efficient even for groups, where otherwise, the \u201cdrive into the city and pay for a parking garage\u201d alternative might win out.<\/p>\n
Fourth, the \u201cpay per distance\u201d approach to mass transit. \u00a0Pretty much everywhere I\u2019ve seen this applied as \u201czones,\u201d where the city is one zone, and then suburban areas are zones 2, 3, 4, etc., and you pay higher fares as you travel from one to the other \u2014 but this system presumes you\u2019re travelling into, then out of, the city. \u00a0Amsterdam had a different system, a true \u201cpay per distance,\u201d in which you swipe your card\u00a0as you enter the bus or streetcar, and again when you leave, and the system calculates the distance travelled, based on the vehicle\u2019s GPS system, and charges you a smallish \u201cboarding charge\u201d and a further charge per km.<\/p>\n
And, finally, the \u201chonor system\u201d method of payment. \u00a0This is the norm in Germany; not sure about the rest of Europe. \u00a0There are vending machines at all mass transit stops. \u00a0Then, as you enter the subway station, or the streetcar, or the bus, you validate your ticket in a validation machine that stamps the time (and, sometimes, location) of entry. \u00a0Then there is no further ticket-taking, no turnstiles, no entering a bus from the front to show the ticket to the bus driver. \u00a0But periodically there are ticket checks \u2014 and if you\u2019re caught without one, you\u2019ll be required to pay an on-the-spot penalty fine of, say, EUR 75. \u00a0How effective this is \u2014 that is, how common it is to cheat \u2014 I don\u2019t know, and I think in all the time I lived in Germany, I saw a ticket-checking worker once, but it certainly saves a lot of manpower relative to the Metra conductors coming through the train to check, and sell, tickets, and allows buses to load faster than the one-by-one payment process in the U.S.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s that. \u00a0Which of these would you implement?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AMunich_subway_Dietlindenstra%C3%9Fe.jpg; By FloSch (Own work) [GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/) or CC BY 2.5 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here\u2019s something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it\u2019s very difficult to make mass transit work in the U.S., with few exceptions, because of the low density here vs. the deliberate, zoned-for high density in Europe. \u00a0(See this pic\u00a0and commentary.) But there are a few noteworthy aspects of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":5214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,456],"class_list":["post-4970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-germany","tag-mass-transit"],"yoast_head":"\n
5 observations from European mass transit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 observations from European mass transit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-22T12:42:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-22T14:45:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2016\/08\/800px-Munich_subway_Dietlindenstra\u00dfe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html\",\"name\":\"5 observations from European mass transit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-22T12:42:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-22T14:45:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 observations from European mass transit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 observations from European mass transit","description":"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 observations from European mass transit","og_description":"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2016-08-22T12:42:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-22T14:45:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2016\/08\/800px-Munich_subway_Dietlindenstra\u00dfe.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html","name":"5 observations from European mass transit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-22T12:42:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-22T14:45:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Here's something I was thinking about, from our European vacation: \u00a0lessons on mass transit. Yes, it's very difficult to make mass transit work in the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/5-observations-from-european-mass-transit.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 observations from European mass transit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AMunich_subway_Dietlindenstra%C3%9Fe.jpg;](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2016\/08\/800px-Munich_subway_Dietlindenstra%C3%9Fe.jpg\")
<\/p>\n