Does your city have frequent transit service?

[tokie]

I realize how lucky I am finally.

Usually I am pissed if I have to wait more than 3 minutes for the next subway train. In the past few cities I have lived, the only times I have had to wait longer than that are basically in the late evening (i.e. 8pm or later). We have around 12 fully subway lines as well which is great.

But when I visited NYC I was shocked to find that in the middle of the day you often have to wait 8+ minutes for a train. Granted, you could take an express train but if you aren't going to one of the stations then you have to wait anyways for the local.

I guess this thread filters out people who drive. But for those of us who rely on public transit: how good is your city?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

What are these "subways" you speak of?

 

[zerocool84]

Living in the LA area, you learn that you need to car because public transportation sucks.

 

[slayernine]

In Edmonton you wait 30-60 minutes for a bus. 15-30 minutes for an LRT (light rail transit).

When you want to get somewhere that isn't a sports arena, mall or downtown you must take 2 buses then a train followed by 10 minutes of walking.

 

[ElFenix]

one of my complaints about houston's bus service is that it doesn't run often enough. middle of the day can be an hour between buses, even in downtown.

 

[xanis]

Fairly frequent. Right now I take the regional rail into the city (no buses, trolley or subway) and I'd say it's on-schedule ~90% of the time. Trains run every 20-30 minutes during peak hours and about every hour during off-peak hours.

 

[eldorado99]

If I wanted to take public transit I would have to walk for 2 hours and then wait for another hour, then it would take 3 hours to get to work and 3 hours to get home.

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/02/08/10-best-cities-for-public-transportation

 

[silverpig]

In downtown Toronto it's pretty good. 2-3 minutes for a subway during the day, ~6 minutes later at night. Street cars kind of suck just because of what they are, but they are frequent enough that I never bother checking schedules.

Vancouver is pretty good too actually. The closer to downtown you are the better.

 

[eldorado99]

In downtown Toronto it's pretty good. 2-3 minutes for a subway during the day, ~6 minutes later at night. Street cars kind of suck just because of what they are, but they are frequent enough that I never bother checking schedules.

Vancouver is pretty good too actually. The closer to downtown you are the better.

no it is not, unless you just mean right downtown.

 

[Svnla]

I don't think there are any good public transportation modes in the Southern states. DART in Dallas is not horrible but I would not call it as good.

Around here, we only have buses and you don't want to be the riders unless you have to.

 

[Rifter]

Bus 20-40 min, light rail 6-8 min.

 

[JimmiG]

Only city buses here, no fancy light rail or subway. It's a small city by international standards, about 150,000 people. There are four main lines with a frequency of 10 minutes during the day, 15-20 minutes during evenings and weekends, 30 minutes at night. Also a number of auxiliary routes with service every 15-60 minutes. There are 23 bus lines in total.

Also there's commuter rail to Stockholm, ~40 miles/65km to the south, about once every 30 minutes on average plus express trains every hour.

I think it's decent considering the size of the city. I live near two of the main lines so I really don't need to look up schedules, at least not on weekdays.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Most routes run every half hour but then there's the odd one that's only on the hour, and some of the half hour ones will run every hour for a certain time of day.

Basically you can go to any stop on week days and a bus should show up within the next hour. So if you need to get somewhere at a specific time you are better off checking the schedules.

 

[tokie]

I don't think there are any good public transportation modes in the Southern states. DART in Dallas is not horrible but I would not call it as good.

Around here, we only have buses and you don't want to be the riders unless you have to.

I am shocked at the public transit in Miami. Basically the city will be the next giant metropolis in the US yet the metrorail is terrible and ghetto. Only poor people ride it.

As long as public transit is good enough then people will ride it. I mean, would people here take the subway/bus if it got you to where you take your car at a relatively close speed?

For me I love the fact that I never need to look at a schedule and that I don't need to pay attention or have the stress of city driving.

 

[PricklyPete]

I've been pleasantly surprised with how decent the public transport is here in Denver. Right now I have about a 45 min commute including the walk, but that will change to under 25 minutes (13 minute light rail, the rest walking) when we close on our new house next week.

 

[dabuddha]

I love DC's metro system and my only complaint about it is that it shuts down at midnight on weekdays (cept Friday). That and the occasional stabbing.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Why would I do that? I have my own vehicle.

 

[PricklyPete]

Why would I do that? I have my own vehicle.

I know you jest, but did you happen the read the article Rossman posted? In Major metropolitan areas it saves riders on average $9k a year. That is one of many reasons one might do it.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I know you jest, but did you happen the read the article Rossman posted? In Major metropolitan areas it saves riders on average $9k a year. That is one of many reasons one might do it.

9k? What are you driving a Rolls Royce? Even if it did cost me 9k I'm perfectly fine with that as I'd rather be dead than live in the city and using public transportation.

 

[PricklyPete]

9k? What are you driving a Rolls Royce? Even if it did cost me 9k I'm perfectly fine with that as I'd rather be dead than live in the city and using public transportation.

1). That figure was an average based on a study (that could very well be biased). In no way does that reflect my situation.

2) your post was clearly trolling (not surprising) since you obviously choose to live somewhere that does not offer this to you.

With regard to the numbers, it does seem a bit high... But let's do some simple napkin math...

$250 car payment/lease
$100 insurance
$150 fuel
$25 maintenance/tires

That would average to about $6300 a year. Subtract out the $1200 that public transport costs you and you still are at over $5k a year. While I'm sure you will tell me how you only drive 10 year old trucks with no insurance and run it on fuel you refine yourself in your Texas backyard...for the average American who has easy access to public transport, there are real savings.

 

[Kntx]

I realize how lucky I am finally.

Usually I am pissed if I have to wait more than 3 minutes for the next subway train. In the past few cities I have lived, the only times I have had to wait longer than that are basically in the late evening (i.e. 8pm or later). We have around 12 fully subway lines as well which is great.

But when I visited NYC I was shocked to find that in the middle of the day you often have to wait 8+ minutes for a train. Granted, you could take an express train but if you aren't going to one of the stations then you have to wait anyways for the local.

I guess this thread filters out people who drive. But for those of us who rely on public transit: how good is your city?

8 min for a train in NYC? In the middle of the day? Maybe on the G train.

 

[IronWing]

I grew up in a city with really good bus service and a maximum 15 minutes between buses. Now I live in a city with once an hour bus service. A light rail system is under construction that goes a whopping 2.5 miles from nowhere to nowhere. Population size and density is high enough to support a rail system if we just had the political will to build it. Every once in awhile the state threatens to take over local government and every once in awhile it might be a good idea.

 

[dabuddha]

1). That figure was an average based on a study (that could very well be biased). In no way does that reflect my situation.

2) your post was clearly trolling (not surprising) since you obviously choose to live somewhere that does not offer this to you.

With regard to the numbers, it does seem a bit high... But let's do some simple napkin math...

$250 car payment/lease
$100 insurance
$150 fuel
$25 maintenance/tires

That would average to about $6300 a year. Subtract out the $1200 that public transport costs you and you still are at over $5k a year. While I'm sure you will tell me how you only drive 10 year old trucks with no insurance and run it on fuel you refine yourself in your Texas backyard...for the average American who has easy access to public transport, there are real savings.

You're numbers are a bit off. $100 for insurance a month? That's crazy high (unless you're a shitty driver) Right now I'm paying about $800 for 3 cars with full coverage and a low deductible. Also how'd you come up with the $1200 a month for public transportation?

Here to go from Springfield to Silver Spring, it costs $5.75 each way. 20 workdays = $230 not to mention the cost of parking at the station (unless you're lucky enough to live within walking distance of a station.
Or you could take my commute. A VRE monthly pass costs $330 / month.

 

[PricklyPete]

You're numbers are a bit off. $100 for insurance a month? That's crazy high (unless you're a shitty driver) Right now I'm paying about $800 for 3 cars with full coverage and a low deductible. Also how'd you come up with the $1200 a month for public transportation?

Here to go from Springfield to Silver Spring, it costs $5.75 each way. 20 workdays = $230 not to mention the cost of parking at the station (unless you're lucky enough to live within walking distance of a station.
Or you could take my commute. A VRE monthly pass costs $330 / month.

Well I was pretty conservative with the other numbers, and a lot of states are pretty brutal these days on insurance costs...especially with newer cars and full coverage.

My public transport costs are based on the 2 zone unlimited pass I get here in Denver (taking into account the IRS tax deduction). Obviously that cost could vary depending on your situation (which is why I specifically mentioned living near public transport in my previous post)

Even if you doubled the public transport costs and reduced insurance costs, you will still see substantial savings in a given year.