Public transportation, around town

The London Oyster Card (the world is your oyster - you have the freedom to go where you wish, get it?) is popular because of its flexibility.  It can be used as a pay-as-you-go card with a daily cap, which is less expensive than the cash price per ride.  It can be set for a week-long pass and be refilled at the train station or even the convenience store.  To use it simply hold it near the yellow oyster symbol when you enter the train station or bus and swipe again when you leave.  I am not convinced we chose the most economical plan, but we were able to buy it at the airport and use it during our whole visit, so it was the most convenient.  There is talk of eliminating the card and replacing it with debit cards that can be swiped, but then there would be no collectible cards.

Initially we used the trains (Underground) and even took a boat between the two Tates, but we followed the recommendation of a friend (thanks, Beth B.) and tried the bus.  It was sometimes a longer wait, but it was definitely worth it because the view was fantastic and it was more fun.

central Amsterdam

A similar system exists in Amsterdam, but the cards designed for tourists are clearly disposable while the cards for residents are designed to be reloaded.  The only hitch I found was trying to use it on a bus instead of a tram, which the driver told me was not permitted.  Most people had their cards in their wallets and held these up to the readers without having to remove them from their wallets.  The trams were fairly easy to figure out, once you had your bearings (which was initially hard for me to do with all the canals and curved roads).

A. and I were in Paris for only 48 hours, but because we stayed a bit outside the center of town we knew we would be riding the metro.  It seemed a bit confusing that the train, bus, and tram all use the same tickets, but because they are separate systems a new ticket would have to be used to switch.  (Hmm - now that I researching this again for this post I am finding conflicting information about this.)  Tickets can be bought individually, but I chose to buy a carnet of ten tickets for each of us.  At the station the tickets are fed to the machine and retrieved before entering the turnstile.  The process is repeated when leaving and the ticket is valid for 1.5 hours.  Unused tickets do not have an expiration date.  We walked a fair amount and ended up with two extra tickets (which we could not use on the train headed to the airport), but it was more convenient than buying tickets each time.  The train system was very easy to understand, despite my fears about going the wrong direction.  I couldn't believe how crowded it was and can't imagine what it is like during peak tourist season.

a sample of klipkorts

Copenhagen has the readers for the Oyster-like cards, but I have not seen anyone use them.  It may be eliminated before it becomes popular and replaced with mobil phone card/SMS card.  Denmark's major transportation company, DSB, has been having significant troubles, both financially and with its leadership.  The transport minister has also taken heat, which may be a problem this election year.

clip your card here before getting on the train, or do it when entering the bus

We are unaffected by these problems and use the system without any issues.  We use a klipkort (shown above) based on the number of zones we are traveling, with two zones being the minimum.  Kids under 12 are free and older kids are half-price.  The half-price tickets can be purchased (they look like the adult cards but cost half the price and have the word barn on it) or a ticket worth half the zones can be punched (a four-zone ticket if it would be eight zones for the adult).  We can catch a bus one block from our house, and if we punch a card with eight zones we can use it on the train.  The higher the number of zones punched, the longer it can be used to transfer.  We are lucky to live within the zone system because once you are beyond it the price for tickets goes up significantly.

we haven't tried to take the quad on the train - yet

Understanding the system is fairly easy.  Between Google maps and the Danish travel plan site we can figure things out.  Sometimes it is hard to determine if the express train leaving later will be better than the local train leaving immediately, but the truth is both are efficient.  It is not much of an issue in the winter, but seats on the intercity (express) trains can be reserved, meaning there might not be a place to sit.  My kids prefer to take the local trains, which are slower, but provide more comfort.

Having grown up using Cleveland's RTA system and traveled in Europe before I had some confidence in my ability to figure things out, but it has been a new experience for the kids.  Maybe they have enough confidence to try the bus or Metrolink in LA.