more than mustard: diana in dijon: Divia de Dijon vs. le métro parisien

Here’s the deal- public transportation and I are good friends. I love how efficient, economicly-friendly, and well thought out it is. Europe really owns the U.S. in this category. However, that being said, most of my previous public transportation experience has been in subway systems, my favorite being the Parisian métro. (Shocker, I know.) So, as soon as I learned I was placed in Dijon proper the first thing I did was check out the public transportation situation. (It lead me to this site: Divia) I remember looking at the map and stops and thinking 'Okay, I can handle a bus.' After a few weeks I’ve realized yes, I can handle the bus, but I definitely don’t like the bus.

Here are my issues:

1) They are outside. I know that is obvious and sounds silly but when it was pouring out you could at least seek refuge in a metro stop. And it gave you ample time to put away/pull out your umbrella. Here you have to wait outside, in all the elements, and then as soon as you get to your stop you are forced right back out into them.

2) My flat is a little outside the city center (10-15 min ride depending on traffic) so my bus stop is pretty quiet. Especially at night. This makes me so much more uncomfortable than I ever was while waiting at a metro stop alone at night. Maybe it is the false sense of security of being “inside” (err…underground haha) but there is just something a tad bit creepy about waiting alone, in the dark, under a little light.

3) Going off of waiting alone….my main issue with the bus is that you never know when one is coming. Some of the main stops in the city center have cool digital signs telling you when the next bus will be (10, 15, 20 minutes) but not all of them. (My stop is without one.) When you get to a stop you could have just missed the bus or it could be 20 minutes away….you can check the pre-printed time tables that show when the buses should arrive but that doesn’t mean they always do. I long for the days of the blinking “00 min” on the Parisian metro signs telling you a train was approaching. The sign would quickly change to a “02 min”, “05 min”, etc to let you know when the next one would be coming. (And I miss how quickly the next train came!)

4) Whether you are lost in Paris, or simply in a new area, the metro is a constant beacon of hope. You know that no matter where you are in the city you will find a way home. Sure it may take you 7 line changes or 45 extra minutes or some ludicrous variation (I just made those up) but you know there is always a way back to your stop. The buses do not really intersect here. There are a few places to get off and change lines but it just isn’t the same. The stops aren’t highlighted and it is hard to read where to change on the map. The metro is a guarantee, the bus feels iffy.

5) In Paris you had the metro during the morning, day, and late into the night, and then when it closed at 1230am you had the night buses. In Dijon buses run the most frequently during the afternoon and stop at 12am. Before 9am and after 9pm only a couple buses run every hour so if you miss one you are going to wait a good 20 minutes. And if you’ve missed the last bus then there is one night bus (legit, just one) that runs every hour and only stops in certain places. Not very into it. Come on Dijon, you’re a “college city/town”, don’t you know the university kiddos are out ‘til at least 2?

6) In order for the bus to stop at the stop you need to get off you have to push a button. It can get a little awkward if you happen to be sitting or standing far from one of the blue square buttons that will demand a stop. It’s just awkward. I didn’t have to reach over people on the metro and I knew my train would stop whether or not other people were going to be getting on and off.

7) And on a completely superficial note my bus stop name here is “Prison”. How ugly is that? (Yes, it has the same meaning in French) I researched why the stop is named Prison and it’s because the Maison d'arrêt de Dijon (main department prison) is right near the stop… great? haha I read online it’s just for people serving short sentences or who are in transit...so I guess that’s okay? Oh well! In Paris I used two different stops Bastille (lines 1,5,8) or Voltaire (line 9). Compared to my two metro stop options in Paris, Prison is a lame name. (Although the Bastille was a prison at one point but at least it was historic and not real anymore…!)

I do realize that Dijon and Paris are quite different so a bus system completely works here and a metro would be a bit unnecessary but I just miss the sea foam green metro trains and racing to get on before the obnoxious beep rang out letting passengers know the doors were closing. The metro became a game but the bus just makes me feel awkward.

Dijon is currently building a tram system that is supposed to open in 2013. Maybe I’d like that a little better? Or perhaps in a few months, once I’m used to life via the bus, I’ll be whistling a different tune? I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Parisian metro wins the bus vs metro battle, though.

(Although the monthly unlimited bus pass in Dijon is 24,75 euros vs the 57,80 euros I paid in Paris for a monthly pass. Get what you pay for? Paris still wins in my book.)

Divia Bus: