Practically Perfect Public Transportation

Berlin!  We have now moved to the second city of our journey, and it is incredible to see all of the contrasts and similarities between Leipzig.  Besides Canada  and hearing incredible stories of my friends' travels abroad, I have only  had Seattle and other states in the US to compare our fist week with.  Essentially, all my perceptions and comparisons of Europe have been based on Leipzig and my home town of Seattle.  Seeing Berlin now makes the scope of my comparison slightly more broad, but I still feel that I have seen only a glimpse of Germany and its culture.  All cultures are so complex that even a developed country such as Germany would take years to assimilate with.

Anyway, I would like to expand on my fascination with the transit system in Berlin. I had heard that the transportation was excellent from a number of people before the trip and they were right!  Leipzig, the first stop on our tour, is a relatively small city (approximately 520,000) and we were able to walk everywhere in the city centre very easily.  Berlin is quite a bit larger (3,5 million), and has an intricate  system of trains that provide access to virtually everywhere in the city.  It is so easy to get from one location to another and is incredibly fast.  The longest we have waited for a train has been about 7 minutes, and we usually wait about 2 to 4 minutes for train.  Our 7 day pass for all of the transit systems was only 30 euro, which allows us unlimited rides  on the city transit.

I am a huge fan of biking and public transportation, and try to take the bus as much as possible at home.  As a Seattle native, I know the bus system pretty well, and have biked to work on the waterfront for the past two summers.  When I did take the bus, I would wait an average of 10 to 15 minutes, and it would take 35 to 50 minutes to get from the Ballard neighbourhood to down town  depending on traffic, and would cost either 2.50 or 2.75 each direction.  The trains here are so frequent, so fast, and so reliable that for the majority of trips, having a car would be a burden(when the train is underground, there is not any hold up from traffic!  Imagine that!) . I can let you decide which you would prefer, Berlin's trains, or the Seattle's buses, but I there is no doubt in my mind.

In order to keep track of the numerous observation about the differences and similarities between Germany and America, I have been keeping a list of pros and cons of our experiences.  So far, the transportation system is high on the pros list, alongside the metric system and nearly free education (including college).  The trip is still as amazing as ever.  I cant complain about seeing an incredible production of La Traviata last night, and visiting Wittenberg, the town where Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the church this afternoon.

 

The door where the theses were nailed.