For the longer Reise (trips) one can reserve seats in advance or find one at the departure. It's so satisfying to watch the countryside zoom by as one travels from city to cirty. When I visited the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart, we even traveled as a group there by bus and train. When we got to the city, we also saw so few cars on the roads. This is automobile central, with some of the largest luxury car manufacters on planet earth, yet most folks stand on the sidewalk waiting for the Straßenbahn (subway) or for the next bus.
Germans are sustainable. In the United States, it's pretty common for one family to have two or even three cars. This is unheard of in German neighborhoods. But, it is necessary and helpful as most homes only have single-car driveways or are lacking any parking whatsoever. When I got the chance to have dinner with a German family, I asked the mother about her day, and it confused me when she described how everything she did was by walking from bus to bus and making one trip into the city to go to work, pick up the kids from school, and get groceries all without the family car. When I asked why not, figuring it was being repaired or otherwise used, she responded simply "Warum sollte ich?" or rather plainly, "why should I?"
