Getting Around (Day 15)

Berlin: Where all the trams went after they got kicked out of Los Angeles

Tram Lines/ Berlin Mitte

Having been here two weeks, I've learned at least enough about the city to act as though I know what I'm talking about, and armed with that sort of confidence I can say with some degree of (ersatz) authority that Berlin's Mass Transportation system is pretty darn impressive.

This doesn't even include the Trams.

Governed by the BVG, (three or four letter acronyms are after all a requirement for such municipal organizations) a centralized and vaguely state run monopoly, the transport network sprawls over the city through various trams, buses, a subway (U-bahn) system, and a variety of elevated train (S-bahn) lines. All of which look remarkably the same.

A Typical Banana Yellow U-bahn (They also come in Red)

Tempelhof Bahnhof (Tempelhof Trainstation)

More importantly, once armed with a monthly card (Monateskarte) I've been endowed with the power to go wherever I please whenever I please. So, me and the various forms of Berlin transportation have had plenty of time to become the best of friends.

The curious thing about Berlin is that you don't have to swipe or pay in any way to get access to the subway / surface lines. Rather there are ticket machines where one buys tickets (and at certain times of day station agents who also sell tickets) and separate stations at which one validates his ticket, but nowhere along this chain does anyone stop and check to see if you've actually paid. This appears to open itself up to abuse (a literal manifestation of the "free rider problem" in fact).

Two things run counter to this, first, this so-called "black riding" is an enormous social taboo in Germany. This is of course compounded in fact by the fact that (at least stereotypically) Germans don't really break laws in the same way that other people do.

Not Your Stereotypical Germans

Secondly there is the lingering danger of being "kontrolliert" or asked to show your pass to a plainclothes officer. These men show up randomly and conceivably could be anyone on the train. Getting caught by them entails a hefty 40 euro (yes that is both the singular and the plural of the word) fine and the shame of being made to feel like a criminal. Not good (especially because you get booted off the train). Considering the fact that my student monthly was all of 52 euro and I've been kontrolliert twice now, my decision to purchase the monthly has been more than vindicated.

I wouldn't mess with the German Police

Watchtower from the Berlin Wall / By Potsdamer Platz

Warning: the next section could be boring

The real question is whether this system makes more sense than the Metrocard in New York or my personal favorites, the Octopus/Oyster system used in Hong Kong and London. Remarkably, I think so (at least relative to the New York system). The monthly users will still find it rational to buy a pass, most Germans will anyway, tourists will be warned to, and the only individuals you lose are those few people willing to take the risk occasionally. This is more than compensated by both the income from those people caught in the act of "black-riding" and the lower administrative costs (less employees, less machines). As a whole I'm impressed.

End of the boring part

So that leaves your loyal blogger rather pleased with the city he's in (especially considering the alternative to mass transportation) and rather more disappointed with American cities.

The alternative

Trabant By Kochstrasse