SCHWERPUNKT – ROTARY
SCHWERPUNKT – ROTARY SUISSE LIECHTENSTEIN – JUNI 2020 VIEWPOINTS WANT TO BE ONE WITH THE WORLD? HOP ON THE SUBWAY Let us now sing the praises of public trans- with «a bunch of random strangers, one as graduate student Margaret Smith did portation. It may be a small chorus: Public of who might be a serial killer», Toderian while visiting New York a few years ago. transit has had a rough ride lately. created the Twitter hashtag #Great Things She noticed a garbage bag at the foot of Ride-hailing services are eating into the That Happened On Transit. The stories a man sitting on the subway across from customer base, funding is a constant bat- poured in. I met my wife on a train plat- her. She noticed it because it was oozing tle, Elon Musk is throwing shade, and the form. … My wife helped deliver a baby in blood. Others had apparently noticed it New York City subways seem on the edge a bus shelter. … My mother has become too, because at the next station a police of catastrophe. But I’m singing out. I’m not good friends with a group of women she officer boarded and asked him what was only a rider; I’m a fan. met taking the bus to work every in the bag. «The guy just looks up noncha- Yes, I know all the downsides. People morning. … And there are kumbaya mo- lantly, shrugs, and says, ‹It’s a goat›», she on Chicago’s «L» seem to have forgotten ments. Like the night Barack Obama was recalls. It turned out that he was an African how to use earbuds. They conduct private elected president and my daughter Nina immigrant taking a freshly slaughtered phone calls at top volume. Everyone is took the L downtown to the victory rally. goat home to eat. This was not going over squeezed in cheek – and not only the facial The train was a rolling celebration, with well in the subway. «The police officer cheek – by jowl with strangers. people on cellphones calling out the states said, ‹We’ve been following you since the Yet I remain a defender. Beyond the as they were declared for Obama while Bronx. You’ve been dripping blood all over convenience, the freedom from sitting in everyone cheered. the train system›», Smith says. traffic, and the precious minutes to sit and Or the Boston version, which my You can feel as though you’re in an- 30 read (should you be blessed with a seat), public transportation has a quality no car ride can match: It is public. It is an increasingly rare spot where daughter Robin experienced riding the «T» during a Red Sox playoff game. «Our conductor basically announced the whole game over the loudspeaker the entire ride, other country riding public transit in big cities, but when you are actually in another country, taking buses and trains can bring even more memorable moments. people of all backgrounds and social class- all in an extremely strong Boston accent», Nina cherishes the courtesy she once en- es share life for a while. she says. «The train was hanging on his countered on a crowded bus in Kolkata, «It’s one of the most diverse places in every word and cheering. The Red Sox India. Someone directed her to a seat that cities», says Brent Toderian, an urbanist won and went on to win the World Se- was protected from the engine heat by and former planning director of the City ries!» It isn’t just the good times that unite fabric. Then, as seats opened up, riders of Vancouver, British Columbia, and a riders. Mutual adversity is a classic bond- kept shuttling her to increasingly comfort- fierce advocate of public transportation. ing experience – and public transportation able ones. «I asked this old woman why «It’s one of the places where the level of provides plenty of that. Like sharing an L everyone seemed intent on getting me interaction with all sorts of people is still car with a drunken passenger who is into the best seats, and she told me that I there, and it’s still honest. It’s transit as about to vomit. This is a common enough was clearly a guest in her country and she social melting pot.» It is that, for better or occurrence that it has happened to both wanted to be hospitable.» worse. When you hear a man somewhere Nina and me, unfolding in the same way. Public transportation is like magic for along the subway platform shout, «But I Both times, the entire car started rooting tourists – an instant entree into the every- don’t want to put on my pants!» as I did for the imminent barfer to hold off until day life of a city. On a recent trip to Berlin, recently, you may wish for a bit more pri- the next stop. «You can do it!» people my husband and I spent a week traversing vacy. Toderian has seen some rough mo- called out. «We’re almost there!» The in- the city by tram, bus, and subway, being ments too, but he remains steadfast. «You ebriated passenger on my car made it, to jostled alongside the locals, looking at can choose to see those situations as fuel our collective relief, bolting off the train how people were dressed, and observing for intolerance, or fuel for curiosity and toward a garbage can. My daughter’s car the differences in public transit culture (no understanding», he says. «I’m not a kum- was not so lucky. music playing or loud talking! Go, Berlin!). baya kind of person, but I do believe that And how about all the nice people I’ve And how else would we have had the the more we segment and fragment our- slept with on the train? They’ve borne up charming experience of seeing people ride selves, the less aware and tolerant we’re stoically as I’ve nodded off against their the subway with their dogs? going to be.» shoulders, which I do regularly, the rock- But you don’t have to be on public He believes so strongly in public trans- ing motion of the L serving as instant-ac- transit abroad to break down barriers be- portation that when Tesla CEO Elon Musk tion Ambien. It’s a kindness I appreciate, tween worlds; you can do it at home. My last December derided it as an inconven- twice a day. Do you enjoy learning about friend Stacey Moncrieff recalls the time a ient «pain in the ass» that surrounds riders other cultures? Step aboard public transit, young man started playing loud music on
SCHWERPUNKT – ROTARY SUISSE LIECHTENSTEIN – JUNI 2020 his phone – the same section over and teraction is known to make us happy; so Epley, a professor of behavioral science at over. She looked daggers at him, then no- why, presented with daily opportunities to the University of Chicago Booth School of ticed that he was engrossed in his note- connect with our fellow straphangers, do Business. Our error is most unfortunate, book and writing down lyrics. As the train we hunker down over our phones? Be- the authors write, especially since com- pulled into a downtown station, a woman cause we believe – wrongly – that we will muting is reported to be one of the least said to him, «I hope we get to hear your enjoy the ride more if we don’t talk to enjoyable parts of the average person’s music someday.» «He lit up», Stacey says. anyone, they found. They asked study par- day. It doesn’t have to be, they point out: «He started showing her what he was do- ticipants to predict how pleasant various «A surprising antidote for an otherwise ing and talking about the recording and kinds of commutes would be. Most said unpleasant experience could be sitting how excited he was. Suddenly, everyone they would enjoy a commute in solitude very close by.» It’s all there on public trans- around me (myself included) was smiling. more than one talking to a stranger. portation – the good, the bad, the bad- It was a magic moment.» Most of us, how- But the predictions tended to be and-good. But especially the feeling of ever, don’t board the train hoping for such wrong. When the researchers asked Chi- being truly part of a big, buzzing city, sur- a moment. We yearn for solitude and a cago bus and commuter train users to ei- rounded regularly by a swirl of jostling, seat. But maybe we should reconsider, ther ride in isolation or strike up a conver- loudly yakking humanity. suggest behavioral scientists Nicholas Ep- sation with a fellow passenger, and to For the price of a fare, it’s all yours. The ley and Juliana Schroeder. In a study titled then rate their experiences, they discov- doors are closing, as they say on the Chi- «Mistakenly Seeking Solitude» published ered that people found conversation more cago L at every stop, but you never know in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, they sought to figure out why people ride public transportation in silence. Social in- pleasant on average than solitude. «Talking to a stranger was the thing that made the commute most positive», says when another door might open. K Rot. Barbara Brotman 31 Mama, ich habe im Ferienhort eine neue Freundin. Menschen mit Behinderungen können sich Ferien und Freizeitaktivitäten oft nicht leisten. Jetzt spenden. denkanmich.ch Die Solidaritätsstiftung des SRF IBAN CH91 0900 0000 4000 1855 4
