I am from a very small town in the United States, and I never used public transportation until I got to Switzerland! I felt a little bit scared at first, even on short tram rides in Geneva because all the station announcements are in French, and I didn't speak French when I first arrived. Eventually, I got used to it, though--especially when I had to move harps around the city!
Now, when I travel around Switzerland to places in the mountains, it can also be stressful because in these regions the signs and announcements are all in German or Italian! I am also a little bit afraid of heights, so the gondolas and funicular trains can be scary too; but you know at the top you will be in the snowy peaks of the mountains, so I think these adventurous rides are definitely worth it!
Unlike in the U.S.A., where you usually only take ski lifts at a ski resort, Swiss gondolas (similar to ski lifts but usually larger and enclosed "pods") use the same ticketing system as trains and trams - it's just another way of getting from one place to another! And some gondolas take over 45 minutes to get from one station to the next, so they really are providing an affordable way for people to travel long-distance. Funicular railways are also common in some places, because many towns here are built right up on the hillsides. A funicular railway has two cars on two parallel tracks with a cable, so when one car goes down the weight of it pulls the other car up. This system allows the tracks to go up very steep hills!
