Adventures on Public Transportation

 
A friend of ours is in Russia and mentioned on FaceBook that getting around Moscow was somewhat interesting. I don't have any experience with the Moscow public transportation system, but if it is anything like the one the Russians built in Prague during the Iron Curtain era, it is an efficient system. Or maybe it's the Czech mindset that makes it so outstanding.
 
Living in Texas all my life has not provided many rapid-transit public transportation experiences, though the first electric trolly I ever rode was in Dallas. Over the years, in addition to the usual planes, trains and automobiles, I've managed to get around in various places on city buses, trams, Dillos, the San Francisco cable cars, and the Port Aransas ferries.
 
I have experienced the Personal Rapid Transit in Morgantown, WV, I have shuttled between terminals on the Plane Train at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, and once, during a layover, I rode the DFW Skylink train around the airport for about two hours. I have ridden the Tube in London, the Metro de la Ciudad de México, the MTA, of "Charley and the MTA" fame in Boston, and the subway (also known as the MTA) in New York City, and have been a satisfied customer of Dopravný podnik Praha,the City Transport system in Prague.
 
In the late '70s, our family spent a few days in Mexico City on our way to visit friends in Guatemala. From our down-town hotel, we boldly hopped on the Metro to visit places like Chapultepec Park, Bellas Artes, and the Museum of Anthropology. The metro was clean, easily navigated, and cheap. However, there were only three lines at that time (there are now 12) and the trains were often really jam-packed. So much so, that at one popular stop, the crowd getting off proved to be overwhelming and swept Barb and I along with them. We were getting off, whether we wanted to or not. The problem was that our children, ages 12 and 10, were NOT in the group that was getting off! To our good fortune, others recognized the problem (probably because of our hysterical screaming) and literally picked them up and passed them hand-to-hand to join us! And thus was born the immutable metro rule, "If we get separated, get off at the next stop and wait."
 
When our daughter Julie and family were living in the Czech Republic we became quite familiar with the outstanding public transportation in Prague. The Metro was relatively new (it first opened in 1974, a "gift" of the Russian occupation) and was fast, clean and efficient. Between the Metro and the surface trams, trolleys and buses, getting around Prague was easy. Every bus or trolley route somewhere intersected with a Metro station, and once you were on the Metro, you could always find your way home - the Nové Butovice stop on the "B" line - a short walk from Julie and Jason's apartment. However:
 
One afternoon, after Barb and I had been downtown for some reason, our home-ward bound train pulled into the Smíchovské nádraží station, short of our destination, and everyone got off. Everyone. We sat there somewhat dumbfounded for a few moments until some official-looking person motioned that we, too, should get off. We did, and our empty train immediately departed down the tunnel toward our destination - without us! We looked around and virtually all our fellow passengers made for the exits, leaving us standing alone, three Metro stations from home and no idea how to get there.
 
We wandered around a bit, looking for an information booth or ticket office, but found none. We went up to the ground level and saw that there was a train station, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't get us home. I stuck my head in a couple of shops, inquiring for English speakers with no takers, so we went back down to the Metro level just in time to see another train pull in and leave empty. I'm getting a little panicky at this point and I'm just about to start yelling, "DOES ANYONE HERE SPEAK ENGLISH?" when I notice that people were getting ON the train that had just pulled in! We ran over some poor babushka in our rush to get on, and gratefully rode to our destination.
 
No one told us that the efficient Czechs daily reduce the number of trains to the far reaches of the system after rush-hour. Every other train is taken out of service, lightening the load on the system. We had gone up the stairs before we saw that the intervening trains continued on, with passengers. Later, we noticed that there was signage - in English, even - to that effect. Somehow, in my panic-stricken state, I had missed that.
 
Public transportation in Prague is on the honor system; no conductor or ticket-taker greets you at the door or at a turnstile. However, there are plain-clothes inspectors roaming the system, performing spot checks. If you are found without a ticket or a pass, there is an on-the-spot fine (it was Kč200 at that time). The inspectors try - unsuccessfully to the Czechs - to be discreet and not stand out. They approach you and casually show you a little badge cupped in their hands without much ado. That's the signal to show them your ticket.
 
One such official approached Jana, our daughter-in-law, in this fashion, and never having been told about the inspectors, Jana thought the man was trying to sell her something. She rightly ignored him and kept walking, causing him to escalate his demand to see her ticket. Having experienced pushy street merchants before, Jana kept right on refusing to have any part of whatever the man wanted, and the inspector was pretty sure at this point he was going to collect a fine until Jason, our son-in-law, realized what was going on and intervened. She did have a valid ticket, by the way.
 
Evey visitor to Prague can recall the sing-song recorded announcement that was broadcast at every closing of the Metro train doors: "Ukončete prosím výstup a nástup, dveře se zavírají." (Please finish exiting and boarding the train, the doors are closing). I remember waking up in the middle of the night, weeks later, back in the States, with that verse running through my mind.