Hi all, here is a cute story about a brave American woman named Karen who decided to pack her bags one day and move to Prague in order to ‘get out and experience our globe’. You know as well as I do that moving is not easy, even if you are moving over to a neighboring town. Karen also had to sell her precious Satrun and give herself over to the mysteries of the Czech public transportation. Do you want to know how did it turn out? Read her most popular article called “Starting My Third Year Without a Car “.
CZ: Karen je velmi statecna Americanka, ktera si jednoho dne proste zbalila svych pet svestek a odstehovala se do Prahy, aby ‘ (z Ameriky) vypadla a zakusila dobrodruzstvi nasi zemekoule’. V tom spocivalo take to, ze se zbavila sveho draheho Saturna, auticka, ktere ji verne vozilo po Statech uz nejaky ten patek. Misto toho se rozhodla sverit se do pece ceske verejne dopravy. Jak to dopalo a jake z toho ma zkusenosti? Prectete si jeji nejpopularnejsi post zvany “Starting my third year without a car”.
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Tani, ta fotka, kterou jsi k tomu dala presne vystihuje muj pocit o verejne doprave. Ano velmi pohodlne, clovek si muze dat par drinku, nebo kdyz je unaveny, nemusi se soustredit na rizeni, jede to celkem presne pokud nejsou zacpy (jen autobusy, tramvaje a metro to maji lepsi), a clovek fakt nepotrebuje auto. Na druhe strane same cekani na zastavkach, v zime, mokru, snehu, v lete v horku ci desti, kvuli porucham ci spatne koordinaci treba i pul hodiny i vic…v dotycnem prostredku pak bud silena zima, mokro a spina a nebo naopak hrozny hic a dusno, a navic lide ruzne zapachajici, otrhani, opili, atd…Sednout is je vetsinou nemozne…. Po 23 letech verejne dopravy si velmi cenim sveho krasneho, cisteho, vonaveho, rychleho, vzdy pripraveneho auta, ve kterem nemusim cichat smradochy, poslouchat opilce ci pomatence, mrznout ci se potit…. a ten cas straveny udrzbou? Mnohem kratsi nez cekani na zastavkach!!!
We have recently returned from Czech Republic. I do have to say the public transportation, especially in Prague has improved quite a bit. For those who are not familiar with Prague public system. There are three main types of public transportation: subway, bus, and the tram. The most popular and most widely used is the subway called Metro. It will get you almost anywhere in Prague. The Metro runs every two minutes during rush hours, every five minutes during the non-peak hours and every seven minutes late at night. If you need a connecting line from Metro to reach your destination, there is a bus or tram which also runs very frequently even late at night and on the weekends.
We have also used a train few times. The so called local trains connecting small cities in Czech Republic are the best. They are very quiet, super clean, and super comfortable. The stops are announced ahead of time. All the transportation is very friendly towards mom with strollers and handiccaped people. It is all one platform no more steep steps! Most of the Metro stations have elevators now too.
I have been very pleasantly suprised.
Coming back to U.S. landing in San Francisco, taking BART ( Bay Area Rapid Transit) I guess you can call it the Metro of San Francisco and vicinty, cars were very old, very smelly, the train was extremely noisy, and we had to wait for fifteen minutes! No connection from our stop to the city where we live and it is not that far.
Although we did have a car in our disposal in Czechie we rarely used it. I can relate to Karen here, who needs a car and all that stress when you can sit on the train look outside and sip a beverage of your choice:) and not worrying about drinking and driving. The law in Czechie is very tough no drinking and driving period. It is that way for a good reason, believe me on this one.
I do not know anything about the public transportation on the East coast. It might be different there. I am only comparing “East” ( meaning the former communist Czechoslovakia) to the “West” (meaning the prosperous San francisco).
I have attached a link below; it is a map of Prague and all the public transportation. Czech it out:)
http://pid.planydopravy.cz/mapa/ROPID_praha/
no, presne tak, Evi. Doprava v Cechah je efektivni, ale ma to par ‘hacku’, ktere jsi ve tvem komentu vyjmenovala. A to ani nemluvim o uchylech!
Snad pry vic Cechu uz ted pouziva deodoranty, tak s tim pocenim to uz bude lepsi 😉
Mariko, thanks for the introduction of the subject. I did not even realize that many readers will be kind of lost on this.
Thankfully I have a car here but if I did not have one, I would be in a BIG trouble. Bus transportation is very impractical here. It stops all the time and it goes in a zig-zag kind of trajectory, so a ride that would take you 1/2 an hour by bike can take you 3 hours by bus :)) Oh, and only homeless and crazy people ride it 😉
By the way, how was your visit back? Satisfied?
Uchyly jsem zadny nepotkala, neznamena, ze tam nejsou a to jsem jezdila hodne v noci. Metro je velice dobre monitorovane. V rusnych stanicich jako je Muzeum se take vecer prochazeji policajti. Cesi se o sebe staraji velice dobre chodeji hezky upraveny a pouzivaji hodne deodorantu. Vetsinou to byly cizinci co smrdeli v tramvajich. Cesi take maji internetovou stranku, myslim, ze jse to jmenuje idos.cz tam jsou vsechny jizdni rady z cele republiky. Staci se podivat z pohodli sveho pokoje kdy jede co. Lide uz necekaji na zastavkach jako kdysi davno, vetsinou prijdou pet minut pred odjezdem, protoze se na to podivaji doma. Ja jsem asi byla jedina vyjimka, protoze jsem vzdy zapomnela:)
V severni Californii, se verejna doprava taky moc nepouziva. A take je to vetsinou pro homeless. Vyjimkou je BART, ACE train, a jeste jeden train ted si nevzpomenu jak se jmenuje. Tyto vlaky spojuji Bay Area, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Central Valley. Hodne lidi to pouziva, protoze vetsinou ziji v Central Valley, kde si mohou dovolit koupit hezky dum a dojizdeji daleko do prace. Traffic se tady vyrovna trafficu v Los Angeles a parkovani v San Franciscu je dnes horsi nez v Praze.
Thanks for asking Tanja. I have enjoyed my visit a lot. Things look better each time we go for a visit. I see a Czech Republic as a new land of opportunities. I never thought I would say that, no joke:)
Mariko, asi jsi mela stesti a nebo se lide v Praze o sebe vic staraji. Ja jezdim do Cech, do Brna nekolikrat za rok a tak si toho asi uziju vic. Metro v Brne neni, spis tramvaje a autobusy. Mamka jezdi verejnou dopravou denne v noci z prace a zazitku s uchyly, opilci a podobnymi individui mela dost, ja koneckoncu take a to nejen v noci. Dokonce jsem zazila sex na zivo a to primo na sedacce v tramvaji…Nebylo to zrovna prijemne. Neni to pravidlem, to ne, ale stava se to. Je fakt, ze Metro je asi presnejsi nema problemy s dopravou a nehodami, a take je vic hlidanejsi. Ale je fakt, ze vlaky jsou ted moc pekne, minuly rok jsem jela a byla jsem prekvapena, jak krasny a cisty byl vlak, kdepak jsou ty zakourene, tmave vagony, co byvaly za naseho detstvi. Jinak v Dallasu jsou jakesi pokusy o verejnou dopravu, ale zatim na nic, ted udelali i jakysi vlak, ktery jede od naseho suburbs do downtown. Chci to nekdy o vikendu zkusit 🙂
V Dallasu jsem byla nekolikrat downtown je moc hezky. Jeste je tam Dick’s Last Resort? Hodne stesti s vlackem, doufam ze to bude lepsi zkusenost nez doprava v Brne. Snad se to tam take brzy zlepsi:)
Sex v tramvaji? No to jsem fakt jeste nejen ze nezazila, ale ani neslysela. Ja mam taky par prihod, i kdyz ne tak strasnych…no, nebudu se tady rozepisovat, kdovi, co by to prilakalo na internetu za lidi.
To je super, ze uz lidi nemusi mrznout na zastavkach! I kdyz melo to tu svoji idlylku (nevim, jestli je to to spravne slovo)…pak clovek vlez do – vetsinou – teplouckeho autobusu a bylo 🙂
Ale jo, Tani, mrznuti na zastavkach dal pokracuje, protoze se nekde neco zasekne, nehoda, zacpa, jeden spoj vynecha a je to…No jsou tam “zajimave” zazitky…
Mariko, myslim, ze ten Dick’s Last Resort tam jeste je, ale uz je to nejakou dobu, co jsem tam byla 🙂
I remember how Czech trains used to look like cattle cars, if you watch the movie Jak vytrhnout velrybe stolicku, and the dog eating the ryzek scene. My grandmother is legally blind and they finally fixed the train platforms to be even with the train steps. I have sidestepped the train steps; not good. Its funny to see some of the Prague tram drivers chew out the car drivers for acting stupid. I find the metro in Prague confusing but I have never had to think about where I need to go because my cousins would help me. I loved traveling by tram in Brno, its not as confusing, going to the centrum. Travelling by train and just looking out the window on the countryside lets you slow down. Travelling by bus with Czechs who don’t put on deodorant can be interesting.
Já bydlím na okraji Prahy a veřejnou dopravu používám denně. Nemůžu si na ni stěžovat, protože autobusy jezdí ve špičkách každých 5 minut a metro 2 minuty. Autobusy jsou moderní, nízkopodlažní a metro čisté. Je pravda, že když jsou vedra, tak je autobusech a v tramvajích dusno. V míře používání deodorantů jsme ostatní svět ještě nedohnali, ale mě to tak nevadí, protože za ty roky mého cestování je můj nos otupělý. Nejhorší je to v zimě, když v tramvajích jezdí bezdomovci.
Díky veřejné dopravě jsem taky chytřejší (hodně toho po cestě přečtu) a zdravější (více toho nachodím / otužuji organismus při mrznutí na zastávce/ posiluji svou imunitu, když mně nemocní spolucestující předávají své bacily a viry).
Nezmínila jsem se ještě o přínosu hlavně pro seniory (v Praze je veřejná doprava zadarmo od 60 let). Senioři tak mají levné cestování a velmi toho využívají. Taky větší děti člověk nemusí vozit autem a cestují už sami.
Jarybo, mas pravdu, uplne jsem na to cteni pri jizde zapomnela! Ja jsem take bydlela na okraji mesta, kdyz jsem chodila na gympl, takze mi cesta do stredu mesta trvala hodinu a ctvrt. Ale vubec mi to nevadilo, protoze jsem celou tu dobu studovala! Kdyz jsem se treba rano probudila a vedela jsem, ze nejsem na nejakou latku pripravena, vubec jsem se nestresovala, protoze jsem vedela, ze to nastuduju za jizdy nebo na zastavce 🙂
Jano, I love the ride in the Czech train, I loved it even when it was dirty and old. I can’t wait to try the new trains. We have really nice trains here in CA but they are SOOOOO expensive! More expensive then gas! Not sure who has the money to ride in them but I know some companies give you some money for yearly pas in order to be ‘green’ and help to avoid traffic jams.
Tanja, it’s so fascinating to read your reader’s memories and experiences with the Prague metro. I don’t remember people smelling on Prague transit so I believe the Czech Republic HAS caught up with the rest of the world in terms of deodorant.
I rarely, if ever, saw homeless people on the trams and metro. I don’t know if there were less or where they went, but it’s not like America, where they can be a numerous and intimidating presence. For your readers who were commenting on Czech trains in general, may I share my enthusiasm for Czech railways. If the Czech Republic is similar in size to South Carolina, imagine, you can travel the whole country for $400 a year!!! Here’s my post: How the Czech Government Delighted Me as a Consumer
http://empty-nest-expat.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-czech-government-delighted-me-as.html