Photo by: Kalleboo (CC BY 2.0)
Nearly two months ago, I published a post about my commute in San Francisco. Wow! It feels like that was two years ago, not two months. Back in November, I speculated about what my Swedish commute might be like and since I am now an official Swedish commuter, I thought I’d write about my daily commute between Uppsala and Stockholm.
Right now, I take the train from Knivsta to Stockholm. Knivsta is one stop closer to Stockholm than the Central Station in Uppsala. I live on the outskirts of Uppsala and it is going in the opposite direction to take a bus to downtown Uppsala in order to get the train at the Central Station. My preferred way of commuting is to catch a ride with one of three friends who drive their cars to Knivsta and then catch the train from there.
I must say, it’s tricky getting the bus tickets you need. I cannot pay with my cell phone as many people do and I am unclear on whether my “junior” bankcard works in the machines yet. (still working on the personnumer and the Swedish ID card needed for the bank account). You cannot pay cash on the buses in Uppsala.
On the bus, you must pay with either:
- a pre-paid card
- an SMS ticket (pay with a text message; it withdraws the money from your bank and sends you your ticket code)
- a ticket from a ticket machine (but these are only at the large stations)
- a ticket from a ticket reseller (don’t know who these are yet)
The long yellow one is for 10 trips on the subway which I currently don't take to work but it's handy for traveling around Stockholm.
It is, of course, much cheaper to buy a block of tickets at once or even better a monthly card, if one travels regularly. Since I get a ride sometimes, it doesn’t work to get a monthly card. Additionally, I need two different bus cards, one for the inter-Uppsala buses and one for the bus to Knivsta which (obviously) leaves Uppsala and is therefore a different bus system requiring a different ticket.
I miss the Translink card I had in San Francisco which worked on all kinds of transportation regardless of the company and regardless if you crossed county lines. The card also had the advantage of automatically refilling itself when its value dipped below a pre-set point. You might recall, however, that I noted in my previous post that the card made a gal feel a little paranoid about how easy it is to be tracked with one of those cards.
Out of Synch
The bus to Knivsta is supposed to arrive four minutes before the train does but the bus is usually late and I often miss the train. Then I wait for a half hour on the freezing, dark platform. I don’t know why the buses are not synched a little better with the train, but they aren’t. That bus only goes once an hour and then, not even all day. On the return, the bus is scheduled to leave one minute after the train’s arrival so if the train is late, I have the same problem. In fact, even when the train is on time, one minute is not enough time to jump off the train, sprint down the stairs and through the tunnel under the tracks and sprint up the bicycle ramp on the other side. This is why I prefer the car ride to and from the Knivsta station even though it means I am at the mercy of the other person’s schedule.
Here’s what I have observed about my Swedish commute:
Buses
- The bus to Knivsta is quite large yet it doesn’t seem to have that many seats. The seats are heated which is really nice after you’ve been waiting at a cold bus stop.
- The buses have electronic signs noting the next stop and there is also a recorded announcement of each stop.
- Always exit out the back door of the bus.
- You can greet the driver when you’re sliding your ticket into the machine, but don’t shout out thanks when you leave. Simply not done.
- You should know how the payment system works and make sure there is value left on your card before you board the bus.
- You need to know which card goes with which bus.
Trains
- If you’re the first one to enter a train car, you will have to unlock and slide the door open. This can be a bit tricky. Best to be the second person in line.
- Don’t try to talk to your seatmate. Most people go out of their way to avoid eye contact even when you are sitting next to them. I once had a woman sit perpendicular to me on the bus seat.
- Yes, the people on the train who set their bags on an empty seat do know that the seat will be needed but they want you to ask if the seat is available anyway before they will move it.
- No one seems to react when people speak really loudly on their cell phones. I am always surprised that the cell phone talkers aren’t embarrassed that everyone can hear them.
- Before you board the train, you must register your trip by swiping your pre-paid card in a special machine on the platform.
- Have your ticket or monthly pass ready to show the conductor. They rarely actually scan the cards to see if you registered your trip but I imagine it must be really embarrassing if they catch you with an unpaid trip. Then you have to pay a fine.
- I haven’t noticed the “men sit with men, women sit with women” tendency I noticed in the US. But the train feels different than the bus anyway. It’s so much larger and less intimate so I think that’s why.
The Knivsta platform looks a great deal like this one. Photo by: Kalleboo (CC BY 2.0)
