What's the best way to get around your city?

[matt99]

In Freehold it's definately the bus, or even walking within parts of the downtown region.

NJ Transit operates our public bus system, as well as the rail line about 10 miles east.

Many residents either can't afford a car, or such as myself, don't even bother driving. The 10 bus lines that run in and around the city all either terminate or pass through the Freehold Centre bus station, just south of downtown.

Most buses run every 20-30 minutes, however during rush hours some lines run as frequently as every 5 minutes.

A ride originating in Freehold with a destination also in Freehold will cost $1.25.

A ride to any neighboring town will cost $1.95, except for Asbury Park, which is $2.40 and Lakewood, which is $3.00.

[fromdust]

people dont like to take the bus around here, they think it is for poor people. every one drives a car. the city is very spread out- urban sprawl to the max.

[Recchia]

In Providence the best way to get around is to walk in my opinion. Many people walk to work or walk to the train station downtown and go to work in Boston. The public transportation is halfway decent, but I'd rather walk any day. A lot of people bike too, especially to the train station.

Most people from the suburbs drive though, despite the fact that our public transportation system is pretty much statewide and stretches far out into the suburbs and has a one rate fare of only $1.50, meaning you can go almost 40 miles for a buck and a half.

[TheBostonian]

I'm curious to hear how it is in other cities. Maybe some answers will surprise me.

When people call Boston a walking city, they must be referring to downtown and the Back Bay, sort of the way people refer to NY and only mean Manhattan. I don't hear of anyone walking from Hyde Park to Charlestown.

The subway goes to most important places. But if on top of that you aren't afraid to get on a bus and are willing to look at a commuter rail schedule, you are EMPOWERED.

[Recchia]

When people call Boston a walking city, they must be referring to downtown and the Back Bay, sort of the way people refer to NY and only mean Manhattan.  I don't hear of anyone walking from Hyde Park to Charlestown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That'd be quite a long walk.... When I think of Boston I think of not only the whole city, but all its close-by inner ring "suburbs" as well. The heart of the city and the most walkable is definitely downtown and Back Bay though.

[ctman987]

In the Hartford area many people drive. The public transportation system is not that built up but it does exist. There are buses that go to all of Hartford's closer suburbs and then there is a company that operates hundreds of vans that regular people drive each day that bring people including the drivers to work downtown. Each person pays a monthly fair and the driver gets the van for a certain amount of time and gets a certain amount of free miles. These vans travel to all of the suburbs that the bus line does not cover and new vans can be started with just 5 participating riders.

The train system is not that well used because it doesnt exist that much. There are a few trains that stop in downtown Hartford and there are trains that stop in the city and in its suburbs to drop off supplies but daily riding is hard. There is a proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line though that would change all of this.

Many suburbanites drive even though the highways are jammed, poorly designed and city streets are crowded and sometimes tight.

[Wicky]

As for Bratislava, Europe, central/eastren part, but still developing:

Ina ca. 450.000,- inhabittants city about 70 % still use the public transportation system. Others use private cars to drive to work.

Good developed is a streetcar system, which joins every part of the city, except for southern 130.000 suburb. Trolleybuses are in the hilled area, which, however, is not so much populated. Bus system operates almost at every corner of the city.

Trains are used for the pepole outside the city, who works at the capital - ca. 120.000 non-Bratislava residents work here.

For the quality and transport comfort I would rank: 1.streetcars 2. troleybuses 3. buses.

Sure, due to high gas prices there is a possibillity, that more people will start to use the public transportation system /until now the trend was the opposite - people have got used to drive/.

[Recchia]

As for Bratislava, Europe, central/eastren part, but still developing:

Ina ca. 450.000,- inhabittants city about 70 % still use the public transportation system. Others use private cars to drive to work.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow 70%??? I'm so jealous of Europe's amazing mass transit systems.

[MadVlad]

Yeah, 70% is an enviable number....

[Newnan]

In the city of Atlanta, walking or taking Marta (Subway System) are the best ways to get around. However, in the Metro Area, the best way to get around is with your car; we're slowly changing that now!

[jmanhsv]

Unfortunately, the best way to get around Huntsville is by car. Our bus system (the "Shuttle") is useful, but only if you live in the low-income areas or work downtown (not a lot of people do here). There are no routes to the suburbs, the airport and even parts of Research Park and Redstone Arsenal, our two biggest concentrations of commuters. This is beginning to change, now that the city is designing its first Park and Ride garage in Research Park, and there is also talk of a north-south light rail line and an east-west commuter rail line. Biking and walking are almost impossible b/c everything is so spread out. This will change as soon as the city completes its 130-mile greenway system in about 20 years.

[Copper]

For me its.

or

[TheBostonian]

For me its.

or

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said.

[Cotuit]

In Providence the best way to get around is to walk in my opinion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's what I do, of course it helps that I live a mile from where I work.

When people call Boston a walking city, they must be referring to downtown and the Back Bay, sort of the way people refer to NY and only mean Manhattan.  I don't hear of anyone walking from Hyde Park to Charlestown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I used to walk quite frequently from Harvard and Central Squares to Allston Village. When I lived in Waltham I used to walk to and from work in Watertown quite a bit. When I lived in the Fenway and Copley Square I walked absolutely everywhere.

[Wicky]

Wow 70%???  I'm so jealous of Europe's amazing mass transit systems.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Come on, still a lot of improvement is awaiting at least the transport system in Bratislava.

But several days ago Bombardier hold a presentation of its urban transport vehicles. I think they could support the speed trams for the high speed tram network, which construction should start in ca. August next year.

[Justin]

I live in Brampton, just outside of Toronto, but I vow not to own a car, so I either walk, bike. I try to take Brampton Transit, as it is a pretty crapty system, and quite expensive.

[colin]

Tucson's bus system was named the #1 transit system in 2005 by the American Public Transportation Association (story).

Unfortunately, no one can explain why.

Very few people in Tucson do not own a car, and the majority of those who don't are the poorer people on the south side of town, or those people who always feel the need to say "I don't even own a car." The limited express service that's offered is popular with commuters though, and many people use bikes to commute (including me...except in the summer) because of Tucson's general bike-friendliness and flat topography (within the city).

I love just visiting cities where you don't need a car. NYC is the only one I've been to in the US, and it's a shame that this country doesn't have more of this. I'd imagine that Seattle, Portland and San Francisco are all moving towards this though, with their progressive population and growing traffic problems.

[Recchia]

I love just visiting cities where you don't need a car. NYC is the only one I've been to in the US, and it's a shame that this country doesn't have more of this. I'd imagine that Seattle, Portland and San Francisco are all moving towards this though, with their progressive population and growing traffic problems.

Boston (and all its close-in "suburbs") Philly, DC (and Arlington/Alexandria) and Chicago are easy to be car-free in. So are a bunch of those smaller NE/Midwest cities with dense walkable cores and even just mediocre bus systems (Providence, Albany, Hartford, Pittsburgh, etc.)

[Angelina]

Everyone knows in LA, most people commute by car. We love our cars, sad but true. We're addicted to them! Well, in most of Southern Calif. in general this is the trend, and if you think LA is bad well you haven't seen some parts of Orange county....

In LA there are trains/subway lines but aside from the Blue Line which is the most heavily used and runs from Downtown Long Beach to Downtown LA, I get the impression that most of the lines aren't used as much as the systems in other cities across the nation, despite the fact that the metro here is expanding (new line opening in October). In fact a lot of Angelenos aren't even aware that we have some subways here!

The traffic problem here is notorious. It definitely has scarred the city, but at the same time, it's a sign that the city is so alive and busy, everyone is moving around, coming and going. But I find it sad that when people think of LA, they immediately think of the traffic jams and pollution. A lot of people I talked to from other states have told me they would not want to live here in LA, and the transportation issue is a major factor -- it definitely affects the quality of life here.

I currently carpool to work and it's a manageable commute -- about 40 minutes on an average morning. But it would be a dream come true to ride the Blue Line to work, if only it was safer. Safety is a huge issue for most people concerning the trains/metro, especially for working women taking it alone from downtown LB to downtown LA. Generally, it's not that bad. But on days when you have to work late, past dark in winter, or even past 7ish in summer, it's just not a good idea for a girl to get on that train alone around then. My co-worker tried it for a few months, until there was a horrible shooting at the PCH station in broad daylight. I'd rather carpool...

So as an answer to the question "what's the best way to get around LA" ... I would say there is no "best" way really. You have to decide what you want to put up with: safety risks and time spent waiting for a bus/train, or lots of driving time and sometimes crazy-long commutes. At my former job in the Westside it used to take me at least an hour and ten minutes to get to work. So for me now, 40-45 minutes is acceptable... for now...

As for the buses, I find that the system in the Westside is fairly good. The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus is doing a good job I think, and also the Rapid Metro bus lines that run from downtown all the way across the Westside until Santa Monica are also good. City of Long Beach, buses are not bad. OCTA is not that bad either.

[colin]

So as an answer to the question "what's the best way to get around LA" ... I would say there is no "best" way really. You have to decide what you want to put up with: safety risks and time spent waiting for a bus/train, or lots of driving time and sometimes crazy-long commutes. At my former job in the Westside it used to take me at least an hour and ten minutes to get to work. So for me now, 40-45 minutes is acceptable... for now...

I don't know how many here are also misc.transport.road readers, but I remember reading a thread on there several years ago about Portland, Oregon, which could be considered one of the most progressive in the country in regards to alternative transportation. The thread stated that Portland simply stopped improving its freeway system (the never-ending cycle of sprawl and widen) until traffic became so bad that people flocked to the mass transit system, or moved back into the city. Seattle is sort of doing the same.

I've been to LA many times and find the traffic awful, but still tolerable. I once drove with a friend along the 405 and 101 from Century City to Calabasas during the morning rush hour and only had a few problems. But of course, that was against the flow.

The issue there is that there is no real incentive for people to migrate to mass transit, not only in LA, but in cities across the country, because the personal car is just too damn convenient, even though gas, parking and commute times are all outrageous.

However, that same friend now lives in Cucamonga, works Downtown, and she rides the train. LA is poised to become a great metro area for mass transit.

"From the streets of Sacramento to the freeways of LA, we've got to keep this fire burning and accept a little gray"

[[email protected]]

In Philadelphia we have buses that serve the city, the suburbs, and one route to Trenton, New Jersey. Trains serve city, suburbs, Trenton and West Trenton, New Jersey and Deleware. Subways run north- south along Broad Street and East West along Market Street and Frankford Ave. We also have trolley lines (10, 11, 13, 15, 34, 36, 101, 102) in the city and suburbs. The Norristown high speed line is the 100 and is an interburban. There are also trackless trolley routes (29, 56, 66, 75, 79) which now operate as buses until new trackless trollies are delievered in 2007. There is also the Patco which goes to Lindenwald, Nj and New Jersey transit buses to New Jersey points. Last, there is a New Jersey transit train to Atlantic City, NJ.

[Angelina]

I don't know how many here are also misc.transport.road readers, but I remember reading a thread on there several years ago about Portland, Oregon, which could be considered one of the most progressive in the country in regards to alternative transportation. The thread stated that Portland simply stopped improving its freeway system (the never-ending cycle of sprawl and widen) until traffic became so bad that people flocked to the mass transit system, or moved back into the city. Seattle is sort of doing the same.

I've been to LA many times and find the traffic awful, but still tolerable. I once drove with a friend along the 405 and 101 from Century City to Calabasas during the morning rush hour and only had a few problems. But of course, that was against the flow.

The issue there is that there is no real incentive for people to migrate to mass transit, not only in LA, but in cities across the country, because the personal car is just too damn convenient, even though gas, parking and commute times are all outrageous.

However, that same friend now lives in Cucamonga, works Downtown, and she rides the train. LA is poised to become a great metro area for mass transit.

"From the streets of Sacramento to the freeways of LA, we've got to keep this fire burning and accept a little gray"

"no real incentive for people to migrate to mass transit"

SO TRUE! People don't want to give up the freedom of the car, to come and go whenever they want, wherever they want..

In terms of improving the freeways, that's definitely a catch 22.. on the one hand, we need to improve them since they were designed in the 50s and 60s and haven't been planned for the kind of traffic and use that exists now.. On the other hand if we improve them then people would only be encouraged to use them more, rather than trying to use mass transit.

The Orange line is opening in October, the mass transit system is slowly but surely growing. I just wish the trains were safer, especially the Blue line....

And speaking of the 405, does anyone know the status of the carpool lane expansion from LAX north to the valley? When is planned completion date?

[SuburbanArizonan]

Well, here in Phoenix, our only real option is driving, and that obviously doesn't work too well..

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--Cody W

(Yes, I brought a thread back from the dead, don'tcha just love me?)

[Zonajones]

In Phoenix you gotta have a car. There is a bus system but relativley few people use it. They are just begining to build a light rail system but i think the valley's low density will prevent it from wide-spread use. As for walking anywhere...

1. In july it reaches 120F

2. Sidewalks are narrow or non-existant along many streets

3. Phoenix has infamously bad drivers.

4. Everything is very spread out