Now that Ive seen Venice, I have to know...
 

1. Where does their sewage go? <BR>2. Where does their garbage go? <BR>3.Why buy a ticket for the vaporetto when no one ever checks? Isn't it just the honor system?

Babol: All the sewage and garbage of Venice is shipped to Poland. It is here that it is made into Halushki and then sent to Chicago and sold in the Polish Delis. MMmm MMmm Good!

1) They have a vacuum sewage system that delivers all their sewage (via enormous vacuum pipes) to a sewage treatment plant. <BR> <BR>2) It used to be incinerated, but is now taken via garbage scows to landfills on the mainland. <BR> <BR>3) To some degree, it is the honors sytem, but occasionally people do check. Not only do you have to buy a ticket if you are caught without one, but it is a criminal offense for which you will pay an additional fine. <BR> <BR>A great book on Venice (perhaps available at your local library) is "Venice & Veneto" by Sylvie Durastanti & she addresses the practical considerations of life there which you inquired about in your post. <BR> <BR>BC

Once on the vaparetto, someone started checking tickets and I overhear some major heated arguments and people paying fines as well as some sort of tickets being written. I had thought the same as you before that, but after witnessing what I saw, I sure wouldn't want to be caught without a ticket.

Must agree - by the vaporetto ticket. We were told by a couple we met in Venice that the fines were stiff and payable on demand. Why fight it? Besides, they have to pay for this great public transit somehow, right?

Just returned from Venice, and can't comment on the sewage/garbage, but, we bought a 7-day vaporetto pass. Altho we never had to show it, they can "spot check" and if you're caught without a ticket, I think the on-the-spot fine is L30.000 plus cost of the ticket which I think was either L6.000 o/w or L10.000 r/t.

Actually, I just got back from Venice and for the first time that I've seen in my trips there, they were checking the tickets...saw a person having to pay the hefty fine...and the ticket taker was doing the math to figure out that I did have a few more hours left on my three day pass!

I wonderered about all the same things too! <BR> <BR>We thought about not getting waterbus tickets, but didn't want to get caught. Sure enough, on the way to the train station, they checked tickets!

isnt it just the honor system?? that tell us a lot about you degree of morality and ethics. yes it is the honor system-but why would you want to beat it. you get a service and you pay for it-getting away with not paying does not make you a better person but a much smaller one

Why pay for apples at the local grocery store when you can probably slip them into your pocket and walk out without paying?? Because it's stealing, that's why. I always figure that if I've got enough money to fly to Europe and stay in hotels I've got enough money to pay for their public transit instead of being subsidized by the locals.

Peter, pls get a grip. Just bc someone asks what measures are in place to ensure that someone pays for a vaporretto ticket doesnt mean they are trying to get away w. anything. It could mean they are simply curious.