3 ms·

Geneva is a special case of cross-border agreements in Europe. The Swiss public transport (TPG) bus service made a bilateral agreement with the French authorit

Geneva is a special case of cross-border agreements in Europe. The Swiss public transport (TPG) bus service made a bilateral agreement with the French authorities to set up a cross-border bus. A tram service is being built too, next to CERN. It can be done. Possibly as a result of that, the bus ticket machines now accept Euros and Swiss Francs, even on the Swiss side. Quite how this works financially is remarkable to me. Is diplomacy difficult? Of course! Does it take time? Yes! And were there many compromises? Absolutely. But even the little bit that did get finished is very heavily used, and has brought great economic, social, and environmental improvements to the Pays de Gex. So take heart, it can be done.

mschuster91 5y ago
> Possibly as a result of that, the bus ticket machines now accept Euros and Swiss Francs, even on the Swiss side. Quite how this works financially is remarkable to me. Legal tender is a currency that has to be accepted (and returns given in) by all merchants in a jurisdictional area. There is no law that prevents merchants from accepting payment in other currencies, which was why the good old Deutsche Mark was widespread in former Yugoslavia and the US Dollar is accepted in a lot of countries without a stable currency or somewhat sane politics, or even outdated currencies - the Deutsche Mark is still convertible at the German Federal Bank, and retailers have been known to run "pay with D-Mark" offerings for ages. If you were referring on the financial workings of the bus line itself, that one is considered a non-issue in Europe - we are a densely packed continent and there are lots of cross-border transportation networks. Usually, operators count how many people use which segments of a line and divide operating expenses, profit/loss and public subsidies by the actual share of passenger-kilometers.
- unethical_ban 5y ago
  >Legal tender is a currency that has to be accepted (and returns given in) by all merchants in a jurisdictional area. Perhaps digitally? I see a lot of businesses that no longer accept cash in physical locations.
- cipheredStones 5y ago
  Legal tender is currency that must be accepted as payment for debt, although sometimes you can give up that right contractually. It looks like the situation in the EU is a bit nuanced, but in the US, merchants are perfectly free to refuse to take cash.

mschuster91 5y ago

> Possibly as a result of that, the bus ticket machines now accept Euros and Swiss Francs, even on the Swiss side. Quite how this works financially is remarkable to me. Legal tender is a currency that has to be accepted (and returns given in) by all merchants in a jurisdictional area. There is no law that prevents merchants from accepting payment in other currencies, which was why the good old Deutsche Mark was widespread in former Yugoslavia and the US Dollar is accepted in a lot of countries without a stable currency or somewhat sane politics, or even outdated currencies - the Deutsche Mark is still convertible at the German Federal Bank, and retailers have been known to run "pay with D-Mark" offerings for ages. If you were referring on the financial workings of the bus line itself, that one is considered a non-issue in Europe - we are a densely packed continent and there are lots of cross-border transportation networks. Usually, operators count how many people use which segments of a line and divide operating expenses, profit/loss and public subsidies by the actual share of passenger-kilometers.

unethical_ban 5y ago
>Legal tender is a currency that has to be accepted (and returns given in) by all merchants in a jurisdictional area. Perhaps digitally? I see a lot of businesses that no longer accept cash in physical locations.
cipheredStones 5y ago
Legal tender is currency that must be accepted as payment for debt, although sometimes you can give up that right contractually. It looks like the situation in the EU is a bit nuanced, but in the US, merchants are perfectly free to refuse to take cash.