Switzerland is known for its amazing trains. Zürich’s transportation system definitely lives up to that reputation. Zürich runs on 4 main forms of public transportation: train, tram, bus and ferry. The VBZ is Zürich’s version of the MBTA and keeps everything in very good order. All transportation vehicles are well kept (unlike the T), on time (unlike the T), runs extensive hours (unlike the T), and the routes provide good coverage to the entire city out into the suburbs (unlike the T). It is also easy and (relatively) cheap to take the trains/busses to other major cities in Switzerland or into Germany. In general, using public transportation is much more convenient here than any I’ve experienced in the United States.
The main differences between the transport here and in Boston is the zone and ticketing systems. Zürich runs on a Zone system where each zone traveled is an additional expense. The main zone, 110, is valued as 2 zones and contains most of the city. Every other zone, while technically a zone in Zürich, are not really directly part of the city. This is due to Switzerland’s canton system. While Zürich is a city, the Canton of Zürich is a much larger area and the transport system covers the entire canton. Switzerland is a relatively small country, and the Canton of Zürich is even smaller, making it easy and quick to travel from one end of the canton to the other, which makes this system more reasonable. Many people commute into Zürich from the rest of the canton using the train or ferry systems.
The ticketing system here is also different. Zürich runs on a honor system when it comes to ticketing. Each passenger is assumed to have purchased a valid ticket and can hop on and off all busses and trains without scanning it. Transportation officials will randomly check that everyone has a ticket and hand out fines to those who don’t, but this is very rare, and happens more often on long distance trains rather than short busses or tram rides. Even though this is a lax system, almost everyone buys a ticket and the transportation system stays well funded. The trains also run from 1am to 9am on Fridays and Saturdays. These times are supported by the night supplement system which requires passengers to buy a 5CH ticket supplement to ride during these hours, which is a much better system for late night passengers than Boston’s. Overall, the entire transportation system is better than Boston’s, but that shouldn’t be a surprise.
