The Eastern Region Transportation Association (Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region or VOR, http://www.vor.at) is a network of eight zones covering a huge area that includes Vienna and sorrounding towns. The city itself is Zone 100, or the core zone (Kerzone), where you can travel on one ticket. When traveling in one direction in Zone 100 within 1 hour, you can transfer from the underground (U-Bahn) to tram (Strassenbahn) or bus (Autobus) or local train (Schnellbahn, Regionalbahn or Badner Bahn, http://www.oebb.at/regional/wien.html) without bying another ticket. When you travel from Vienna to outlying regions within the VOR area, the ticket depends on the number of zones you travel through.
Bus lines are identified by numbers ending with an "A" or by three-digit numbers. Strassenbahn line numbers or letters stand alone and U-Bahn lines are numbered 1 to 4 and 6, and are preceded by "U" (e.g., U1).
Tickets (Fahrscheine)You can purchase tickets from presale-ticket windows (Vorverkaufsstellen) or ticket machines (Automaten) at most U-Bahn hstations, or from a tobacconist/newstand (Tabak-Trafik). If you cannot buy a ticket ahead of time, you can get one from a machine inside a Strassenbahn or Autobus (but not on the U-Bahn). It will cost a little bit more and you must have the exact change. And if you plan to buy a ticket on a Strassenbahn, be sure to board the first car, where the ticket machine is usually located directly behind the driver.
After buying the ticket you should usually validate it in a blue canceling machine (Entwerter), which is located inside Strassenbahnen, in the center of buses, at the entrance of the U-Bahn and Schnellbahn platforms. Illegal/black riders (Schwarzfahrer) without ticket should pay a fine of 500 ATS plus the cost of the ticket, when checked by the public transportation officers (Fahrscheinekontrolle).
Types of public-transportation tickets (http://www.vor.at, Allgemeine Tarif-Info or Farscheine für Wien):
From 12:30 am-5 am, night buses (N) run at half-hour intervals on 22 lines, with Schewedenplatz as the hub. Nightline tickets can be bought on the bus or at a Vorverkaufsstelle. These buses require a ticket other than the ones described earlier. However you can buy a discounted ticket if you already have other Time ticket (Monatskarte,…).
You can buy maps and timetable books at any U-Bahn ticket office. Also you can get in the major ones pamphlets about tickets and ways to reach a destination (available also in internet: http://www.wiennet.at/efa, http://www.repromedia.at/html/plaene.html) (for the electronic plan of the city see http://service.magwien.gv.at:80/wien-grafik/wo.html).
They are reasonably priced and can be found at clearly marked taxi stands (Taxistandplätze), usually located near U-Bahn, Strassenbahn and Autobus stations and busy intersections. They won't respond if you try to hail them on the street.
When calling for a taxi from home, state your district and house address. Most taxis do not accept credit cards. A receipt (Rechnung) is available upon request. To call a taxi, look under "Taxi" in the yellow pages (Gelbe Seiten, www.gelbeseiten.at).
You can buy the tickets and also reserve seats at the train station or at the Austrian Travel Agency (Österreichisches Verkehrsbüro). The following are the terminal stations in Vienna:
Transportation to and from VIA
(http://www.viennaairport.com/englisch/info/zumvom.asp)
Buses and trains take about 20 min. to go to and from VIA. Buses operate three routes every half an hour:
Trains to the airport include the Schnellbahn 7 between Wien Nord, via Wien Mitte, and VIA (Flughafen Wien Schwechat).
Airport taxis (http://www.viennaairport.com/englisch/info/taxi.asp): when going to the airport, it is cheaper to take an airport taxi (Flughafen Taxi), such as "Airport service Mazur" or "C & K Airport Service" than a normal city cab because airport taxis charge flat rates.