Citrus or rose and melon scented metro trains? 'No thanks,' said the Viennese in an online survey.
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Does a citrus and grapefruit essence in the metro trains for “energy” appeal to you for your commute?
How about a whiff of sandalwood for “good humour”?
The company running Vienna’s public transit network, Wiener Linien, tested out an entire catalogue of perfumes on two metro lines in order to make them smell nicer for commuters.
But Viennese were not happy. Wiener Linien announced on Monday that they would be discontinuing the experiment after “most commuters voted against the initiative” — 21,000 votes against and 16,000 for — in an online survey.
"It seems that the Viennese are quite happy with how their metro smells," said Wiener Linien, which prides itself on finding innovative ways to get more people to use public transport.
Last year, the company successfully implemented a ban on eating in the metro after customers complained about frequent pizza and kebab odours inside the trains.
Reputed worldwide for its cleanliness and reliability, Vienna’s public transport network is used daily by 2.6 million people.
Almost half of Vienna’s population of 1.9 million (822,000 people) have an annual metro card.
The city saw sales of the cards skyrocket after the city’s left-wing municipality lowered their price to €365 in 2012.
The number of annual travel cards now exceeds the number of cars in the capital.