North American cities are primarily designed for automotive traffic. There has been more attention to bicycles, buses, and trains, but most people still look upon them as a poor person’s transportation. Traveling in Germany I found a different model: how public transit should work!
“If I want to drive a car, I rent one,” a young Berlin based executive told me.
The same sentiment was echoed by an executive in Hamburg.
Though getting from one place to another can involve one or two transfers, buses and trains run like clockwork. Waiting times are generally less than five minutes. The empty platform at the bottom of this page was probably crowded only minutes before.
As there is no gridlock on the U-Bahn or S-Bahn, they often move through Berlin faster than automotive traffic.
For those who prefer exercise, bicycle lanes run along the sidewalks of most cities. My Berlin contact usually pedals to work.
The Deutsche Bahn offers an InterCity Express (ICE) connecting most of Germany’s major cities with Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. The “slow” ICE, connecting Berlin and Hamburg, travels at up to 230 km/per hour. Faster trains can go as much as 320km/per hour.
“Why would I want to buy a car?” my Berlin contact asked.
cleantechnica