Femogtyve

19.4.2010 Symposia # 7 "Special 1"

To compare and contrast Copenhagen or rather Denmark's transportation system to another is nearly impossible. Honestly the only comparisons are the modes to transport: Bus, Train, Metro etc. Any other city I've traveled in has been quite confusing and the multiple facets of transportation are so far from integrated, in Boston in-particular.

Boston's transportation system is a mess...road infrastructure included. Many years ago the city attempted to fix their mess by creating a new high way system which resulted in the catastrophe many New Englanders refer to as the "The Big Dig." Since such event, and as long as I can remember the roads and transit systems in and out of the greater Boston area have been unorganized and difficult to use. Anything far from convenient. For example I used to go from my college in Beverly to visit my boy friend at the time in Worcester. By car the drive from North of Boston to West of Boston is around an hour... by public transport it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. I would take a school shuttle that ran twice an hour to the Beverly Depot to meet up with the commuter rail. Due to train times I usually sat outside in the cold at Beverly Depot for around 20 minutes and then took a 31 minute ride into North Station that cost me $5.00. Once at North Station I would buy a $1.75 Subway ticket and take the Red and Orange line to South Station...this usually took me about 30 minutes. Once at South Station I would wait anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for a commuter rail to Worcester. The Worcester commuter rail is beyond slow and would take a minimum of 120 minutes at the cost of $7.00. Once in Worcester the only mode of transport to Holy Cross would be a $10.00 and 5 minute Taxi ride. The cost to fill up my car tank is around $30.00 of which I would only use a quarter tank to get to Worcester. While all this scheduling and expenses are terrible the smell and aesthetics, poor quality of direction and design of Boston's public transit isn't even noted.

You can see that in this one trip, which I took multiple times public transportation was neither the inexpensive, quick or easiest option. I refuse to ever make this trip again. I don't think many Danes understand the beauty of public transit here. Here you can pay once and use the same ticket or transportation pass for all modes of transportation. Here you pay by zone rather then by use. Here you can guarantee that no matter how many modes of transportation you use your trip will be cohesive and rather prompt. One thing that clearly displays this collaboration between companies and modes of transport is Rejseplanan. This tool has proven easy to use and entirely beneficial. When trying to commute in Boston you have to visit 3 or 4 sites to coordinate your travel and even then can't guarantee that schedules and maps are up to date.

While the transportation system here isn't perfect its benefits are much more prevalent then cons. The infrastructure here in Denmark compliments the public transportation system and really does make it a convenient and inexpensive option. Previous to the past month I didn't use the public transportation system on a regular basis. I was pedestrian commuter and have now become a regular 6A Bus commuter. The 6A runs often enough that I never have to wait more then 10 minutes for a bus. It has many stops along my way to and from the center of Copenhagen which gives me the option of never needing other modes of transport. As my time concludes here in Copenhagen I dread the weekly commute I will make into Boston for my semester long internship.