I promise that this blog will contain more than just trains and job applications! Both clearly take up too much real estate in my head, although the latter is perhaps more understandable.

Deutschland-Ticket

A powerful sounding name, evoking national pride. Rightfully so, as for just €49 you can get a whole month of travel on regional trains and local public transport, in the whole of Germany! If the Deutsche Bahn were also more consistent, this ticket would be truly marvellous; it is already a fantastic deal. I recently discovered the “American minds cannot comprehend” family of memes, but my Switzerland residing mind is dazzled even so, juxtaposig it with the 50 CHF Swiss 24 hour train pass.

On the topic of unlimited transport passes, in my slightly over 2 years in Zurich, this month is the first time that I’ve bought the “Zone 110” month pass (~60 CHF). Though this only covers most of the important parts of Zurich, not nearly the whole of Germany, nonetheless the sense of freedom with which it imbues me is still remarkable! No longer must I carefully weigh up the physical exertion involved in biking back up the hill from the office against the cost of a tram ticket, nor calculate the chance of rain in the evening, ration the weight of shopping in my backpack, etc. Even just removing the need to faff around with the SBB app each time I get on the tram is a weight lifted from the mind. All this without even getting onto the haunting fear inflicted by the SBB ticket inspectors.

The sense of freedom from the travel pass, in particular of not having to weigh the cost/benefit of each tram journey, is actually a known economic phenomenon, a “buffet effect”. The removal of the real psychological annoyance of cost benefit analysis is a boon in of itself, and is one reason why people are willing to pay more for buffets, or unlimited data plans, even if they would generally save money by ordering a la carte.