I wrote most of this email during my commute, which involved a train and unfortunately, not opportunities to swim. (Although if my train ride had encountered water, that probably would have been even more unfortunate.) — Dan

You Could Say Their Commute Goes Swimmingly

Basel, Switzerland, is a city of about 175,000 people on the Rhine River, on the Swiss side of the border with both Germany and France (here’s a map). It’s often considered the hub of Swiss culture, with roughly 40 museums within the area — a huge number given the relatively small population. It’s also home to the HQ of two major pharmaceutical companies — Novartis and Roche -- which again underscores how large of an economic hub the city is. And as a result, there are a lot of people who commute to work there.

Most of those commuters get to work via traditional ways — they walk, they take cars or buses, and avail themselves of the tram system. In that regard, Basel is a city like any other. But some start off their commutes by taking off their pants.

No, they’re not doing anything lewd. These commuters are floating their way to work. 

As noted above, Basel borders the Rhine, which — unlike many urban waterways — is generally safe to swim in, at least insofar as pollution is concerned. The biggest issue you’ll have is the current; unless you’re a fantastically good swimmer, it’s probably too strong to swim against it. But that problem only exists in one direction. The current is gentle enough that, if your direction matches the flow of the river, you can get into the water, let the river take you toward where you’re going, and swim your way back to shore as you approach your destination.

And here’s a video of people doing just that.

The process is simple, as Basel’s official website explains. If river conditions are appropriate — the website recommends not swimming unless “the water temperature is above 18 degrees Celsius, the water level is less than 650 cm, [and] the water height is less than 246.5 meters” — you can float for up to about three kilometers (two miles). And the Basel website has a tool available, here, to help you quickly ascertain the temperature and water height — no need to break out a thermometer or depth gauge. But of course, there are still a few obvious questions. First, how do you carry anything to work without the water destroying it? And similarly, you can’t walk into the office in a bathing suit or a soaking wet business suit — how do you account for that?

As the Basel website explains, the answer to both is something called a “Wickelfisch” — a fish-shaped swim bag that is waterproof (when properly closed, of course!) that Rhine floaters use for their trip downstream. Entrepreneur captures the take of a TikToker named Simona Rakauskait, explaining the bag’s use:

The bags aren’t to come by, either; the city of Basel sells them through its website and you can find them on Amazon as well. Like any other commute or trip that’s partially underwater, there’s always the risk of a leak, but by and large, Rhine floaters report few such incidents.

The biggest downside of the float-to-work or float-back-home commute is probably the trip back. The river only flows one way, so you can’t take it both ways, sadly. Most people, per Entrepreneur, use a more standard way of travel for the reverse trip: they walk.

More About Commuting

Today’s Bonus fact: In 2019, Rome decided to use the value of its commuter rail system to increase consumer recycling. At the time, a ride on the Rome Metro cost €1.50, hardly a prohibitive amount. But people will save money when given the opportunity, so Rome’s authorities came up with an idea, as Fast Company describes: a “program [that] allows commuters to deposit plastic bottles in return for five euro cents each [ . . . ] which can be used toward the cost of a ride on the metro.” Thirty bottles donated gave you a free ride. The program worked well — per the World Economic Forum, “350,000 bottles have been recycled” in the first six or so months, despite the program being piloted in only three stations. As of this writing, the program seems to have expanded (I don’t speak Italian, sorry!) and is now active in eight stations.

From the Archives: The Best Story You'll Hear About Someone's Morning Commute: This is really a sweet, touching story.

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And thanks! — Dan