Have you ever regularly used public transportation?

[mrsilv04]

I have a couple of uses for the bus. I can catch it in front of our building, and ride it to downtown to in front of our other location... in much less time that I could drive it, then find a place to park (and pay to park), and then have to walk. the rest of the way in. This couldn't be much better. Runs every 30 minutes.

I have also used it to get to and from the Honda dealer when dropping off/picking up the Goldwing for service work. Not the most convenient/quickest way, but it does allow me to do it by myself... and not have to bother anyone else. The route to do this isn't too bad. Takes about twice as long as driving, with one transfer (right in front of our downtown building).

Anything else, I've found it to be clunky and time consuming. I can ride it to/from work, but will have to walk the first/last 1/2 mile.

My employer has an agreement with the bus service, so all I have to do is show company ID to ride anywhere for free.

 

[Bud_One]

Anytime we visit Atlanta ,GA - we use the MARTA train to go downtown .
It's quicker than driving and parking .

 

[SaberOne]

I took the public bus from my home in the suburbs to the city all the time before I was of driving age. It’s was 30-cents back in the mid-60s’ and you can stay on the bus all day. I recall that when I was bored, I would just stay on the bus until it went full circle and brought me back home. Hard to believe I was bored before I became a teenager.

 

[MNgopher]

I did when I worked in downtown Minneapolis. My employer picked up 1/2 the tab for the monthly pass, and I had two different options for express buses with regular service that were within a mile or two of home. It was a no brainer - between wear and tear on the truck, paying for parking, and convenience - the express bus was a better deal all around. Of course, that was all pre-covid... and I no longer work downtown.

 

[PWMDMD]

When I lived in SW CT the morning and evening trains into and out of Manhattan were always full. Even the people making millions per year rode the train daily.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

The DC area thankfully has very solid mass transit options. Many DC-area employers give a stipend to encourage public transportation use. I used to take a Fairfax Connector bus to the Metro's Orange Line into Ballston every day and back for five years. My office wasn't very far away but with DC's traffic, the bus and Metro made the most sense. It worked out well, but five years was enough and I now work closer and can drive every day.

 

[PF52]

I lived in Peoria IL for a few years, mostly without a car, so I rode the bus system there a lot. Most of that was just to go to the mall....

NYC's system is great. What impressed me most was how thorough it is.... Chicago's is nothing like that. I showed up once to board a subway train in NYC and there were signs posted and announcement being made that the line was closed beyond such-and-such station (maintenance issues, I think). No worries - just check the map and see where to transfer to one of the other lines. Can't really do that in most other cities. I got to see a lot of NYC via subway and bus.

 

[ripcord]

Ouch.

Sorry if that felt like a put down. I was just trying to be humorous.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Windsor, ON has a population of ~200k but has an abhorrent public transit system, being a "car town". I have two teenage daughters who use it regularly despite its unreliable nature. I made sure that when they were younger we took it as often as was feasible to normalize it.

“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation”

I lived in Toronto in the early 90's and saw firsthand how much better things run with a viable public transport system. I am 100% for the development of better urban public transport; and even regional systems.

 

[853okg]

Yea Shel. I was the guy driving the bus for 20 years.One day I caught myself saying to myself ‘ You couldn’t pay me enough to do this every day.’ And then I realized, they did. Oh well

I too have driven bus. What occurred to me early on is that without government subsidies most public transport (in the US) wouldn’t exist. Free markets, as Milton Friedman noted, have a wonderful ability to regulate themselves, but we have left them behind a long time ago. Many days I’d drive hundreds of miles in a huge empty bus. I shudder to think about the actual cost of those trips, just so some can feel good about themselves and a handful can grow rich. That is a hard, hard job, and the things you experience will make you want to vacation at Walmart.

 

[Hermann]

When I was the "paper boy" in 1967 or so, my route was the downtown state of MO offices and businesses. I rode the bus home for several years . Took about 20 minutes to get home, for a dime. I went to school at the Catholic church school across from the Capitol Building. Walked 8 blocks to the newspaper office when school was let out to get the papers.

 

[UncleDave]

We have bus service in my city and it is rarely ever used by people. Back when going to college downtown I would often use the bus. Since then I haven't. I have occasionally used plane travel but don't really consider that normal public transportation for most due to cost etc.

Have you ever used a bus, train, subway, boat, plane for transportation?

Sure - when you live in a city that has good public transport sometime it makes sense to use.

Chicago L train was great.
Tokyo subway is amazing and almost all in english now.
NY works OK zipping up and down the island.
Netherlands has pretty good trains.
London - you take the Heathrow express from airport to paddington and then cab from there.

Just about the time I left LA a train that runs from the Beach to Downtown and Hollywood zipped right past the end of my block and I had a station 7 min walk - either way equidistant.

 

[64bawagon]

Sorry if that felt like a put down. I was just trying to be humorous.

Its all good, I was just returning the favor.

Most of the time I avoid areas that are peopley enough to need busses but at Disney the concept of personal space goes there to die.

 

[FishFry]

Most of the time I avoid areas that are peopley enough to need busses ..

Yeah, I wouldn't say I hate people per se, but let's put it this way: not a huge fan.
The older I get, the less I have the nerve to deal with crowds, especially when packed into small spaces.

I prefer sitting alone in my car in the middle of a traffic jam with my music (and only my music), my open window, my temperature, my space, smoking cigarettes as much as I please and smelling only my own farts, than saving 20 minutes on public transportation.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Anytime we visit Atlanta ,GA - we use the MARTA train to go downtown .
It's quicker than driving and parking .

I don't know what the last time was you had this great adventure, but I assure you that things have changed and you had better be aware of what's going on around you if you're doing this and in the metro area....with a plan to make sure you get back to wherever you came from in the same manner.

 

[missingcurlybracket]

A whole public transportation thread without a mention of any YouTuber that's covered city design and car dependency!

Not Just Bikes is probably one of the most prominent in the category and I think channel, and his video on "stroads" is neat.

A little more on-topic, I grew up ~20 miles south, southwest of DC and resented the lack of ability to go anywhere except the excellent forest trail network nearby. (now that I do miss) No third-place, no ridesharing at the time (not that I had the money) and no car access, being underage. Made for more Halo 1 time though. Ahh to be a kid again.

 

[Warlord]

I only use it when traveling. Great way to see the sights and talk to locals.

 

[anderson]

We have bus service in my city and it is rarely ever used by people. Back when going to college downtown I would often use the bus. Since then I haven't. I have occasionally used plane travel but don't really consider that normal public transportation for most due to cost etc.

Have you ever used a bus, train, subway, boat, plane for transportation?

used to all the time when i lived in downtown vancouver , didnt mind it much in the downtown core but trying to leave the general service area was a major and somewhat unsafe inconvenience.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Its too dangerous.

 

[ripcord]

I bought my niece a cheap car years back while she was in nursing school and traveling by bus to various practicals. What prompted me was my sister in law mentioning several times perverts were exposing themselves plus the assaults that took place on transit around Seattle over the six months my niece was using it at night.