And now, a minor screed:
Athens has a truly marvellous metro system. Built in the years BC (Before the Crisis), it is a wonder of efficiency. It still functions well, getting you where you need to go quickly, even if the air conditioning isn't as reliable as it once was.
But when they built the system, they kept the old system of tickets that the buses use. One ticket per trip; the tickets could be bought in the stations, or at peripteros (kiosks) everywhere. And Athenians themselves seem to have monthly passes. A somewhat clumsy system for us visitors, but it worked.
Then, the great minds who run the system decided that Athens needed to be truly up-to-date. So they introduced a system of reusable cards, much like the London Oyster system (or the New York Metro tickets). It is complicated: there are paper cards, anonymous plastic cards, and cards with your picture on them. The rules for who is eligible for reduced fares are complicated. But a detailed English website was written up, explaining most of what you need to know. The key point is that you can get month passes and reduced fare passes at the ticket windows in Metro stations; or you can buy full fare cards at the machines. Fair enough.
Except that the system doesn't work (yet, at any rate--it has just gone into effect). When we arrived, we learned that the ticket windows at most stations are closed. Why? Strike? Funding cuts? It's not clear. This means that the few that are open have long lines of frustrated people. Here's one of those stations:
And at several of the stations where the ticket window was not open, we saw rows of ticket machines, most of which were out of order. Like this:
And when you do find a functioning machine, it often has arbitrary limitations: it doesn't accept credit cards, or large bills, or some such thing.
(I can't help but contrast this with Copenhagen, where I visited recently. In the airport, you arrive at a row of train ticket machines, all of which are fully functional. And there are uniformed personnel standing there, waiting to help you, in flawless English, figure out what ticket to buy and what track to go to.)
I realized that what technology has done is not necessarily to make things work better. In the old days, things didn't work, but the Greeks themselves figured out ways around the disfunction. Now, with this new technology, things still don't work, but no one can find a way around it. So it is much more equitable, in a way.
Athens has a truly marvellous metro system. Built in the years BC (Before the Crisis), it is a wonder of efficiency. It still functions well, getting you where you need to go quickly, even if the air conditioning isn't as reliable as it once was.
But when they built the system, they kept the old system of tickets that the buses use. One ticket per trip; the tickets could be bought in the stations, or at peripteros (kiosks) everywhere. And Athenians themselves seem to have monthly passes. A somewhat clumsy system for us visitors, but it worked.
Then, the great minds who run the system decided that Athens needed to be truly up-to-date. So they introduced a system of reusable cards, much like the London Oyster system (or the New York Metro tickets). It is complicated: there are paper cards, anonymous plastic cards, and cards with your picture on them. The rules for who is eligible for reduced fares are complicated. But a detailed English website was written up, explaining most of what you need to know. The key point is that you can get month passes and reduced fare passes at the ticket windows in Metro stations; or you can buy full fare cards at the machines. Fair enough.
Except that the system doesn't work (yet, at any rate--it has just gone into effect). When we arrived, we learned that the ticket windows at most stations are closed. Why? Strike? Funding cuts? It's not clear. This means that the few that are open have long lines of frustrated people. Here's one of those stations:
 |
| Greeks do not like standing in line, so you can imagine how happy they are. |
And when you do find a functioning machine, it often has arbitrary limitations: it doesn't accept credit cards, or large bills, or some such thing.
(I can't help but contrast this with Copenhagen, where I visited recently. In the airport, you arrive at a row of train ticket machines, all of which are fully functional. And there are uniformed personnel standing there, waiting to help you, in flawless English, figure out what ticket to buy and what track to go to.)
I realized that what technology has done is not necessarily to make things work better. In the old days, things didn't work, but the Greeks themselves figured out ways around the disfunction. Now, with this new technology, things still don't work, but no one can find a way around it. So it is much more equitable, in a way.
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