Well fancy!

Confidence and respect.

Meanwhile Connex (apologies to readers in the South East of England) have announced a campaign of civility on Bordeaux' buses and trams, where incivility is reaching epidemic proportions.

Readers may recollect that on the buses we get on at the front and get off at the rear now, thus enabling us to say Bonjour to the driver and also cutting down on the number of people who don't punch their ticket in the machine.

Judging from what I have seen on the buses then huge numbers of people don't punch their tickets. Mind you, I was told of one short commuter train journey in a part of Britain that shall remain nameless where 80% (yes, eighty percent) of passengers had no ticket.

Sarko wants to make a France where anything is possible. He says that he is the candidate for "la rupture tranquille", apparently an echo of a statement of Mitterrand . He would be wise to try and cast himself as a new Mitterrand. The French rate Mitterrand very highly indeed.

Comments

Emmanuel said…
A lot of the people who don't punch their ticket probably have 'un abonnement' (Not sure of the English word). They have a card and pay once a month.
I often take the train here in Cardiff for a very short journey. Not ticket booth in our local station, too small. You're supposed to buy your ticket from the 'controleur' (another English word I don't remember). But very often he doesn't turn up. So, I get down at the next stop... What are we supposed to do in such a case. He is not doing his job. It is especially true at rush hour. In some stations (Queen street, Central station...) you have to show your ticket when you go out, so you can buy it then. But in smaller ones (my case), nobody is there to make you pay...
12:08 pm
Alan said…
Yes. Here the season ticket cards are very clever. You wave them in front of the machine and it beeps. So everyone has to use the machine, whether to compost their paper ticket or to register their season ticket. If you don't do your season ticket, then when the inspectors swoop they will give you a pv and a fine - but when you go to the office to pay it is waived for season ticket holders.

It is a problem when there is nobody to buy your ticket from, especially for infrequent travellers who don't need a season ticket.
2:02 pm
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