Alexander Roberts photo
Manuel Sobotta at his destination on Whalley Avenue.
Manuel Sobotta sat on a bench at a bus stop on Fitch Street, waiting for the B1 bus to take him to Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue.
If he were home in Germany, he said, the bus would have already picked him up.
Sobotta, a 25-year-old international student studying for one semester at Southern Connecticut State University, is always comparing what he finds in America to what he’s used to in Germany.
Because he takes the bus every day around New Haven, it’s a frequent comparison for him.
Although the bus picked him up on time, at 12:55 p.m., Sobotta said the wait between scheduled stops is longer in the United States than he’s used to at home. In the afternoon, the bus stops at Southern’s campus roughly every 20 minutes to half hour.
The CT Transit buses are not as timely when compared to the German transportation system because CT Transit is not always on schedule, Sobotta said.
German public transportation systems have more buses and more frequent stops, not just in the urban centers, but out in the suburbs too, Sobotta said.
Sobotta said the German system of public transportation is more efficient because more people tend to use it.
“Gas and car insurance are particularly expensive in Germany compared to the United States,” said Sobotta, “which is why I think more people use buses and trains.”
Despite the differences, Sobotta recommends any Southern student use CT Transit because it is free with the use of university-issued cards.
About 10 minutes after the bus left from Fitch Street, it arrived in front of the Stop & Shop Plaza on Whalley Avenue.
Sobotta grabbed his backpack and got off the bus, ready to grab some groceries for the week.
Because he is in a foreign land, a trip to the store isn’t just a trip to the store, Sobotta said. At home he has familiar products. He just goes to the store and gets what he needs. In an unfamiliar country, there’s an extra step to even the simplest shopping trip.
“The products and prices are different from Germany, just like everything else,” Sobotta.
The CT Bus Diaries project is a collaboration between the New Haven Independent, the Valley Independent Sentinel and students from the multimedia journalism class at Southern Connecticut State University. The students are blogging about experiences on CT Transit’s bus lines in order to give a glimpse into the commutes of the people using the bus system.
Share your CT Transit experiences with us by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) photos or videos to Jodie Mozdzer Gil.
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