Public Transportation Is Not Gross It Is Essential

Taking public transportation has gotten a bad reputation and it doesn’t deserve to be treated as a last resort. The typical reaction I’ve gotten to find a ride anywhere is to ‘Uber’ it. Uber can be really helpful if you’re in a jam but if you’ve had time to plan or you are commuting every day it’s not the best especially when you are trying to save money.

Traveling

If you’re traveling and you can plan at least a few days in advance, looking up different ways of transportation can save you a lot of time and money later on. Public transportation has a reputation for being unsafe and dirty in the states but that shouldn’t stop you from taking it in other countries. Private modes of transportation like Uber use surge pricing around city and airport areas making what was once a 15 euro ride turn was out to be a 60 euro ride.

When I went to Paris with my friend we figured taking an uber to our hotel would be the best option instead of getting lost on public transit. After spending roughly $80 on one ride we knew we would have to think of other options to get around the city. If you’re willing to spend the money by all means Uber anywhere but if you’d rather save an upwards of 45 euros then I highly recommend looking into public transportation.

Options

Whether it’s bus, subway, or train there is always another option as opposed to taking a taxi or private ride. It’s always best to look into the public transportation for the country you’re visiting, most of the time it is incredibly safe and well recommended as it is a cheaper alternative to private rides.

Some places may even do the research for you! My second time at Charles De Gaulle, I found this interactive touch map which planned your journey out and showed you the different fare options to get there. I found that while Uber was 60 euros, taking the train and metro cost me roughly 12 euros.

Cities I’ve traveled using public transportation

• Edinburgh
  • Scotland’s bus system is amazing. It is their primary mode of public transportation around cities and towns. Most buses have free wifi and some which are on the airport line include charging ports forever seat along with screens showing the latest flight arrivals and departures.  Day passes are well worth 4 pounds when traveling more than twice and their monthly bus cards are worth unlimited travel.
• London
  • The tube is great because your oyster card never expires. You can top it up at any underground station and even use it as fare for the trains as well (fun fact if you’re trying to get to the Harry Potter studio tour).
• Paris
  • The metro becomes your best friend in Paris. It can seem really confusing at first but I found google mapping my destinations helped when trying to get station to station. It’s important to understand zones when traveling but you can never go wrong with purchasing an all-zone pass just in case you decide to go outside the general limits like for the airport, Versailles, or Disneyland.
• Amsterdam
  • Amsterdam has a great tourist pass which I highly recommend. For 3 days you have unlimited travel from the airport to center city and surrounding areas. Using their public transportation allows you to get a hostel or hotel that may be cheaper and further out of the city. My hostel was right next to a train station and I’d prefer the 5-minute train ride into the city over an extra 50 euros a night for my stay. The card can also help you get discounts on events in the city as well.
• Geneva
  • Geneva’s public transit can be the best and worst thing you experience. There are places to purchase single and longer date tickets at every stop along the routes, however, most busses tend to use the honor system in assuming passengers have acquired a ticket. Unlike Edinburgh where each passenger presents the ticket to the driver, in Geneva passengers, may hop onto the bus at three different entrances allowing them to bypass this. Now if you’re on a tram that a police officer just so happens to be on checking tickets you can get into a lot of trouble but I’ll leave it up to you decide which you should do.

Stop the stereotype

The more people are open to public transportation the more the stereotype goes away. A subway might be dirty but it can get you to where you need to go a lot cheaper than a car can and a lot faster than your legs. Next time you plan your trip check out the city’s local transportation and see what your options may be, they just might surprise you too.