What's up here?

The problem of public transportation is such a big one for us in the US that Basel seems rather amazing with all the trams and buses running at such frequent intervals. The population for the area is over 800,000, still well below a million. The principle difference must be the actual square miles covered by a metropolitan population in the US versus the square miles covered here, or, to put it another way, the density. We took a trip to the suburbs, almost to the end of the tram line; the houses thinned out a bit, and there was more green space. We saw nothing to resemble a shopping mall, although there were shops, restaurants and groceries gathered around the tram stops. There are certainly cars on the roads here, but it isn't bumper to bumper. Maybe families have only one car. Whatever, we have enjoyed the public transportation here in much the same way we have enjoyed it in Paris or London, or Rome. It is just curious that Basel is so much smaller.










This pink pig was a painted and decorated tram car. We only saw it out on Saturday when just about everyone wanted to go to town and the trams added extra cars. Unfortunately the pink pig wasn't going our way, so we didn't get a ride!