Public Transportation ~~~ YES!

I never thought someone would hear these words from my lips --- I love public transportation! Let me clarify,  I love SWISS public transportation … trams, trains, busses, bahns, etc.

Seattle’s public transportation could be better. My 86-year-old father is a great fan of the Washington State Ferries, but my youngest stepson prefers bicycling to the university over taking the bus. I’ve taken the bus, but I must admit that I still prefer to drive my Honda Civic to and from work and appointments. (I tried taking the bus to work one day, but it took two transfers – 90 minutes – and frightening encounters with some very strange bus patrons.) We live on a bus route and are a one car family, but to be honest it’s my husband who travels by bus most often.

That is, until I got to Zurich. There is NO NEED for a car here. It seems as though everyone uses public transportation. The ZVV (Zurich’s public transportation system) is amazing. When I first arrived, Doug met me at the airport (flughafen), and we took the train from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof (It’s pronounced “howpt-bahn-hohf”, but I keep wanting to call it “the haff-n-paff”.) From there we took the tram to our apartment. Yes, luggage and all, on the train, and then on the tram. No one batted an eye at us. It was quick, efficient, and all quite normal.

What I would soon accept is that it is the best way to get around Zurich, and for that matter, most of Switzerland. EVERYONE does it! The young and the old, the teenagers and the senior citizens, the college students and the mothers with tiny infants, the rich and the poor, the fashion conscious and the fashion illiterate. People from all walks of life can be found on the trams: a new visitor and a lifelong resident who has never left the city may well be sitting side by side.

Part of what makes this affordable for a stay of more than a month is to obtain a ½ price card. This, in and of itself, is an adventure.

You go to the Hauptbahnhof, and for 10 CHF (Swiss francs) you purchase a passport photo using a self-portrait photo booth the works much like the ones I used as a kid at the Minnesota State Fair. You then take this to the travel office, and for the cost of just 144 CHF you purchase a one-year ½ price card – which has the look and feel of a driver’s license or Costco card, and is mailed to you in five days. With this ‘magic card’ you can purchase almost any bus, train or tram fare in Switzerland for half the original cost. And a monthly Netzpass for Zone 10 (75 CHF) allows you to board any tram or bus within the central core of the city of Zurich – unlimited … any time. (The daily version of this, the Tageskarte, is good for 24 hours from the time of purchase.) Be sure you have a valid ticket or pass whenever you board, though: the fines for riding without one can be very steep.

What makes this so perfect is that the trams run close to nearly everything and often. You can get across town in less than 30 minutes, traveling in a clean, smoke-free environment. Miss the tram? You wait just five or ten minutes for the next one to arrive. They start running each morning about 5:00am, and they run until just after midnight.

During my first few days in Zurich, I spent hours on end just riding the trams. There are 15* tram lines within the core of the city that take you to all four corners and nearly everywhere in between. I’d get on one and ride it to the end of the line, turn around, and ride it to the other end. This was great way to get acquainted with the city. If I saw something interesting, I’d get off, check it out, and get back on the next tram. My handy tram schedule stays folded and tucked in my bag for ready reference, and I’ve crisscrossed Zurich on all 13 trams and several of the busses, including a post bus.

*I recently discovered that there are actually only 13 tram lines... there is no #1 tram nor is there a #12 tram. The #12 was replaced with bus #33. (Thanks Iris for this additional information.)

My vote is YES, for public transportation.