I walk down the stairs and hear the familiar sound of the Berlin Ubahn arriving on the tracks below – I instinctively pick up my pace and start to race down the stairs, around the corner, down a final set of stairs and slip into the Ubahn before the doors slide shut! It’s days like today that I feel like a local in Berlin. Getting comfortable with the transportation system is always a first step to really learning about a city for me.
I take a seat and catch my breath and realize that there’s one thing that made this Berlin Ubahn dash possible – the ticket ‘honor system’. There was no gate to pass through as I ran down the stairs and onto the train – no one or no system to check a ticket at the station. However, I’m safe as I know that I have a validated ticket in my pocket. The entire Berlin transportation system runs on the idea that people are being truthful – that they have a ticket. The only checks and balances of this system are the occasional Ubahn agents who roam the trains asking to see your ticket. Of course if you don’t have one then you are faced with a hefty fine. But I wonder how many of the Berliners have validated tickets who are riding this train? Does the honor system actually work in Germany?
There are no posts. Why not be the first to have your say?
What is Ottsworld? It’s my journey! I quit my corporate IT job 2 years ago and said goodbye to blackberries, meetings and New Y…
Hauntingly empty buildings of old Berlin...
I just spent 3 hours in the subway in Stockholm. No, it wasn’t stuck. No, I didn’t get lost. No, I wasn’t held hostage. I actually spent 3 hours in the subway on purpose.
Our Expert Contributor, Sherry Ott has recently had some good news!
The setting for the day’s ‘Food Follies’ would be the towns, villages, and farms around the Meuse River, dubbed the oldest river in the world.
Three days on Isla del Sol, in Lake Titicaca; natural beauty and Inca legends
Differences in daily life between Canada and Peru
Iquitos: the largest and most popular jungle destination in Peru
Madrid's Festival of San Isidro has morphed from a religious procession to a full scale arts festival