Visitors and transit

---

Stockholm has a very well developed public transit system with numerous bus lines, 7 subway lines that extend to the suburbs around the city, 2 commuter rail lines that connect to other towns in the region, 7 local trains, and a few ferries thrown in for good measure. Passes are available for different lengths of time, and give you unlimited access to the whole system covering more than a 50 mile diameter. A 30-day pass costs about $90 for any consecutive 30-day period. An estimated 80% of Stockholm residents ride public transit for at least some of their travel, most commonly for commuting to/from work. Public transit can even save you time. The commuter trains travel at speeds up to 100 mi/hr.

As our visitors from the US can attest, the public transit system connects easily with the national train service and the airport. Mark Hamlin, from DEQ's Salem office, and his wife Debby stopped by for dinner one night at the end of July. They were on a tour of northern European countries by plane, boat and train, and hopped the subway from their lodgings to ours, and proceeded by train from Stockholm to Oslo.

Mike Poulsen, from the DEQ regional office in Portland, spent a couple of nights in Stockholm on his way to the orienteering championships. He had the opportunity to try out both the commuter trains, the subway and the regular train service to get around. A 3-day pass cost him approximately $27. Mike had a bit of bad luck with the weather and got steeped in water as well as a bit of history. We observed the changing of the guard at the royal palace, ate lunch in Gamla Stan (Old Town), and spent a couple of hours at an excellent viking exhibit at the history museum.

We are still car-less, and have not had a lot of trouble getting around. Jack took this blue bus line to sign up for Swedish as a second language. Classes start in October. However, his Swedish is noticeably improved just from speaking on a daily basis.

In some ways it's a great relief not to have to take care of a car while we live in the city. The only time I miss it is when we need to bring boxes or larger packages somewhere. We had our container of belongings delivered to a storage unit (Shurgard has established quite a presence here) but we had to ask for help to bring some of the stuff to our apartment.

Summertime is also a time for festivals in Stockholm. The one week Pride festival was followed by a one week culture festival. I didn't see much of the Pride festival, but noticed that all the buses were flying the rainbow flag for the week. We did attend the Chopin marathon (19 pianists took turns playing Chopin's music for 12 hours from 3 pm to 3 am), and the book table (many blocks of books for sale on the pedestrian street, Drottninggatan) during the culture festival. And yes, we each bought a few books since we have more time to read and the books we shipped are in storage until December.

As I'm writing this entry, there is a three day film festival in the local park, 1/2 a block from our apartment. The movie sound is even louder than the traffic noise this evening. The park also hosts a lot of weekend concerts.

---

Photos

Red Bus
The red buses are a common site all over the city. They appear to run anywhere from twice/hr to five times/hr.

Fuel Label
Most of the buses indicate what kind of fuel they use. I have seen buses fueled y ethanol, canola oil and biogas.

Blue Bus
The articulated blue buses run frequently (at least every 8 minutes) on high traffic lines.

T-bana
The subway trains are long and each line runs about every 10 - 15 minutes. So far the longest wait time for a train to or from our stop has been 5 minutes since all the lines pass our stop at Fridhemsplan.

Escalator to lower level
The subway lines run at two different depths under center city before they surface to go out to the suburbs. The stops that are located on the lower level are noticeably cooler in the summer.

Art at the station
The older stops generally have tiled walls, while newer stops have more varied designs and artwork.

Useable art
Some of the artwork can also help you get oriented!

Busses, Bikes & Peds
In addition to cars and buses, people also get around by bike and on foot. Separate bike lanes are common, but in the inner city bikes sometimes have to mingle with other traffic.

Rooftop view
View of Södermalm from the roof terrace on our apartment building.

Comments

[Rebecca]

WOW
Ann, What great stories! I so envy you both being retired and living elsewhere. I would love to do just that...at least for 6 months out of the year. I love to travel and I loved living in Germany when I did. Thank you so much for the pictures as well. It is nice to take a break from work and go on a virtual tour. It makes me feel like I'm on vacation for a while. By the way, they have opened up your job...here's hoping they fill it with someone half as good and half as nice. Take care, and keep the stories coming ;0)

[Yongkie Hurd]

Wonderful
Hi Ann, Thanks for sharing the city of Stockholm, public transportation is the first one I look when travelling. Keep up the blog. Yongkie

[Stuart]

Public Transport
As someone who tries to limit his use of automobiles, I am green with the thought of the wonderful Stockholm transit system. Having recently completed a two week tour of the NE US, I am quite filled to here with cars and want to see the back of them!! Great to get the update!!

[Kim Carlson]

Best of alternative transportation
Dear Ann and Jack, I loved hearing about all your transportation options. As a recent neighborhood activist in transportation related issues, your descriptions of ways to get around Stockholm were great to hear. Thanks too for the pictures. I love picturing you two in your new home town. Missing you, Kim

[andrew levine]

Well
Ann. This is an informative pictorial. I have no idea how the city looks or runs and this was enlightening. Thank you

[Rosemary]

fabulous
Dear Ann, you are a great blogger! The tour around Stockholm was wonderful. So happy for you and Jack and glad to hear his Swedish is improving fast. I would expect nothing less. Your view is beautiful and the city life seems to have a ton to offer. Be well and best to Aaron. Will we hear about him in another blog? Miss you!! Rosemary