Newspaper bags in Vienna

Newspaper bags have gone up on sign posts all over town for the weekend. Each of these plastic bags has an attached coin collection box. Unlike the newspaper boxes in North America, which can be opened only after paying, nothing prevent the absentminded readers from taking a paper from the plastic bag without paying. We walked past three of these absentminded readers today.

Similar to the corresponding systems in Germany, buses, streetcars and the U-Bahn (underground) here also run on an honor system. There are conductors who would perform random fare checks throughout the systems, and fines are substantial if a forgetful rider gets caught without a valid ticket. But there is no obvious way to enforce such spot checks on the newspaper system.