MIS 750 Information Technology Management: City of Frankfurt: Public Transportation

Hello readers, so ok I want to share my experience traveling to Frankfurt city, which is located in Germany.

Briefly, Frankfurt is a metropolitan city that is very modern and happening city, but also you can find some old architectures and buildings from medieval history. So it has a good blend of old and new. It is the capital city of the Euro currency, and also the headquarters for the German national airline Lufthansa.

So I wanna talk about its transportation system. They have few types of transportation systems mainly buses, taxis, trams, and subways. The cost of transport is quite cheap. The Fares are range between €1.60 and €2.60, and a journey to the suburbs outside Frankfurt costs between €4.10 and €7.30 approx. There are also some discounts for children for groups or day tickets. A day ticket for traveling within Frankfurt costs €6.60.

I strongly suggest you get the one-day ticket (6.60 Euro), as you can use all types of transport (bus, trams, subway trains) to travel around Frankfurt all day long and unlimited times. However this ticket is not valid for taxis. So overall rating for the system is perfect 9 out 10 star, I can say it is very efficient, very punctual, clean and easy to use. If you ever get lost or confused, there are Information counters located at the train stations, or you can easily ask any passer-by German people, who are really polite and always willing to help you find your way.

But actually there is one big "surprise" or shock that I actually want to highlight when using this transport system. Ok, so first thing I see the maps which direction I want to go. Next, I go to the ticket vending machine, or counters to buy the all-day pass ticket. So I got the tickets, now ready to go down the subway station. So normally, if in Malaysia after you get the ticket or nowadays they use the coins, you put inside the ticket reader machine (so to pass the entrance barrier).

Ok the problem or surprise when I first-time here, I try to find the entrance barrier.. but I cannot find.. But also as I make my way down the stairs and already on the train platform, I thought maybe they have some kind of barrier,, to my surprise also nothing... And then, the when the train finally comes, I thought maybe the barrier is in the train? But.... I am surprised again no machine whatsover... Ok, then I thought must be when i exit the train at my next destination, surely must got some machine right???? Oh So Wrong!!!!! Tak ada machine juga...! So I confusingly exit the train station and out the stairs to the exit.....

So the actual things is there is absolutely no ticket reader machine at all when I asked one of the staff at the Information Counter. So yeah even though you can freely just hop on subway even without a ticket, the German people at least in Frankfurt do possess a degree of honesty and integrity, but of course the only kind of mechanism to discourage cheating, would be an Ticket Inspector would inspect your ticket (or no tickets) on you... So the penalty of not having a ticket if you are unlucky to be stopped by the inspector who even rarely present on the train, is very expensive. If Im not mistaken, the fine is 50 Euros? So yeah better be safe than sorry.

So thats my experience using Public transport in Germany, maybe Malaysia can emulate the efficient infrastructure and technology from them, but maybe not so for the ticket mechanism, I'm not sure Malaysia can achieve that kind of integrity yet...

So here I post some photos for you all to see, and would I recommend visit Frankfurt? Absolutely just to experience the city life, but I highly recommend to visit more historical cities in Germany like Berlin, Munich or Heidelberg, that has colourful histories and beautiful castles to really appreciate the beautiful nation of Germany.

Reference:
Public transport in Frankfurt am Main
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport_in_Frankfurt_am_Main