Kirchzarten, Germany: When filling out the hotel registration form in Kirchzarten, there was a little tear-off portion at the bottom. It was a transit pass for the hotel guest(s). For bus, rail, and streetcars. For a whole region running from Basel Switzerland in the south and encompassing the whole Freiburg area.

It was a simple piece of cardstock, no fancy codes or chips required:

We used it to take the local train into Freiburg, saving gas and parking and hassles. Going the opposite way, we took it to Lake Tittisee, a recreation area a long ways east. Passengers on the trains were commuters, students, tourists, and holiday makers.

I inquired of our hotellier how much this transit ticket might be costing him. He told me it was 35 cents per person per day in his hotel. The ticket replaced a previous scheme that gave guests discounts at certain spas and public baths (we are in the “bad” area of Germany, baths abound). He (and I) thought the transit pass was a better option, because it benefited locals more by reducing car traffic.

Can you imagine Ottawa ever doing anything so welcoming to our visitors? Heavens, we might not even need to convert the west lawn of the Museum of Nature to a parking lot !  What would the Canada Day celebrations be like with fewer cars? Surely the ‘free’ transit [only] on July 1st might give us a clue …