Public transport when abroad

[Wowbagger]

When we were in Vienna last week we were most impressed by their public transport system. For €17 each we had 3 days’ unlimited travel on buses, trams, the underground and certain local train services. There were no barriers and, one journey excepted, no-one looking at tickets. We bought the ticket at a tabac-trafic and the first time we used it we shoved it into a machine for it to be time-stamped. It’s a wonderful honesty system and it works very well.

When we arrived in Salzburg our hotel receptionist extolled the virtues of the Salzburg equivalent. It was €43 but included with it free entry into a lot of the city’s attractions, and a discount off concert tickets. I think we were done as Salzburg is much smaller and it is only a short walk from our hotel to the old town, so we haven’t used public transport much. We have been to a couple of concerts so have probably benefitted to the tune of about €7 each in discounts but when we tried to used the card for a fairly short bus ride this morning we found that the ticket wasn’t valid on that route. We visited the Mozarthaus so that was worth €11 each, but I doubt that we will get anywhere near €43 worth by the time the card expires tomorrow evening.

[The French Tandem]

We were in Vienna last month, and I told myself the exact same thing! No barriers? Are people honest there? I could not believe that! There was even an old lady in the metro (they call it the "U"), her purse was wide open, and everyone could see a thick pile of €20 notes into it. I told myself that in Paris, the money would have vanished very quickly...

A

[Cudzoziemiec]

What you had in Salzburg was clearly aimed at tourists not locals. The locals were probably paying E17 – or less! And there will surely be "canaries" who check tickets unannounced, though you might travel for ages without seeing one.

Barriers are a funny one. Why do we have barriers on underground systems but not, as a rule, on overground stations? Of course it's not practical for buses and trams, so when all these systems are combined in one payment system, the barriers on one part of it alone become a bit pointless.

[rogerzilla]

There is the lack of queuing, though.  Specifically, Austrians queue nicely until the bus actually arrives, then it's a scrum.  Most odd.