Photo swapping with DSB
This morning I went to the train station to acquire a monthly traveler’s card from DSB (public Danish transportation) The last time I needed this, was ten years ago when I went to college. At that time you would have to bring a photo of yourself to the card personal. Not a problem! I had tons of those small photos of myself I got from the school photographer. Today however, ten years later, I don’t have any photos of myself lying around – well except maybe for a few of the ones back from college.
Luckily, I thought, this is 2010 and DSB can’t possibly be using the same procedure as they did in the analogue 90’s. By now, they will for sure have a small handy camera attached to their computer, ready to snap my picture. It was with great disappointment I found out that this was not the case. The nice lady behind the counter asked me for a photo the same way she did in ’99.
When I go to Tivoli they have an automated system for taking headshots. The same goes for the gym. And the university. And the library. And the local pool club. And the…
The number of members in these kinds of institutions is nothing compared to how many people are using DSB’s traveler’s card on a daily basis.
If you live in Denmark, you will know that complaining about trains arriving late, is as common as talking about the weather. In fact, it’s a perfectly reasonable subject for a conversation with a stranger – and just for perspective; conversations with strangers in Denmark are the last thing that defines our cultural code.
I can imagine that it’s no easy task to manage thousands of departures and arrivals each day and have them all be precise to the minute. DSB has always struggled with the goodwill of the public, and perhaps paying a bit more attention to the easy fixes would help the amount of goodwill go in the right direction.
I ended up buying an unpersonalized traveler’s card – a rather expensive solution, but my options were to spend money in a photo booth, and that would have set me back even further.
I’m one of those actually appreciative for the existence of the public transportation, and I can live with the bus or the train being late by 5 minutes. But honestly DSB, look at the calendar year and wake yourself up before you go-go!
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