Transit-Age: Are you satisfied with your city's transit?

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We have buses in Indianapolis. Not very good ones that don't really go to places I'd like to go to. So...no.

However, it takes only about 30 minutes to get to my house 13 miles north of the city to downtown. So it's kinda hard to get transit going in that situation.
 
Talon- said:
I'm actually an Atlanta native, so I'll add to the bitching about Marta. Ever since '96, there's always been talk about adding high speed lines from the suburbs. Of course, some assnuts in the state legislature went with the "...BU...BUT...BUT...THE "PEOPLE" DOWNTOWN CAN COME OUT TO THE SUBURBS EASILY AND THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN." message to kill it.
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Which is bullshit because Sandy Springs and Dunwoody seem to be doing just fine.
 
The Minneapolis-St. Paul transit system is so incredibly extensive I honestly cannot find a comprehensive map of it. There are like a billion bus routes running everywhere.
They're currently halfway through constructing a massive extension of the Light Rail system as well that will extend it through the University and from Minneapolis to St. Paul
 
Kad5 said:
Meanwhile the traffic in Atlanta is only getting worse. It's ridiculous. What do you think of the T-SPLOST?

Actually maybe we could make a thread on it since the vote is coming up soon.
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Doesn't help that everyone drives a SUV or truck to get to a desk job.

Makes no sense at all.
 
The Port Authority of Allegheny County here in Pittsburgh has a $65 million deficit and and is going to cut 40 routes in september.
 
Decent coverage, I live about 35 miles from Seattle. I drive about 4 miles to the train stop, grab a train which takes me Into the city and hop in the bus which takes me to work. Commute time takes about a hour total.

Cost, my work subsidizes the pass. I am only paying maybe 1%. Each way would cost me about 8 dollars. I pay 30$for the year
 
I am from Philly and go to U of Pittsburgh. Right now I am taking a math class in the Philly suburbs. From where we live which is just literally outside the city limits, it takes me about 1.5 hours on 2 buses each way to get from home to class and back. I have to go into the city, transfer at Broad and Ghetto (Broad and Olney), and then ride out. I like riding transit and am fine with this, but I see how people would rather drive.

And as for Pittsburgh, as said above Port Authority is currently in a budget deficit and is a mess. There was even a chance that the bus to the airport (28X) would get cut, which would have been horrible since there is no rail transit to the airport and the airport is far from downtown and Oakland. And also Pittsburgh's light rail doesn't serve Oakland where Pitt/CMU/Carlow are, and buses are always packed between Oakland and downtown. So yeah.
 
I'm really impressed with how Beijing has gotten up to speed with its subways. Beijing basically has the size and layout of something like Los Angeles and its metro area.

I was there for 3 months in 2005, and this was how it used to look like:
Fvfq9l.jpg


Now:
9IlI6.png


And they're opening 4 more lines at the end of this year (this map also includes Line 14, which is scheduled for 2013 opening. It doesn't include already-opened Line 15, for some reason):
8OAts.jpg
 
shanshan310 said:
Brisbane transport.

Cost: one of the most expensive in the world. 20 minute bus fare into the city is $7 (one way) for an adult. Prices rise 15% each year because fuck you.
Quality: Varies. Buses to the city tend to run on time, buses home sometimes don't come during peak hour (about 1 in 3 ever shows up between 5 and 7 pm). This leads to over crowding. If you are waiting at any bus stop after the second one don't expect to get on until after peak hour finishes.
Train stations are empty. I waited at central station for a train for 20 minutes and only one train came. ONE. at the busiest station in the city!
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Selling off QR certainly didn't help matters, smh.

You're pretty much screwed in Brisbane without a car or a motorbike.
 
It's amusing to see the reactions to Boston's transit. Ranging from people finding it unusable to being great and reaches everywhere they need.
 
LOL. I see our regular Toronto Age Representing... and this image has been floating around Toronto twitter-verse to make the point:
AyGiS9TCQAEmXfE.jpg


These are the times I still wished I lived in Hong Kong with this setup:
646px-Hong_Kong_Railway_Route_Map_en.svg.png

The best part of Hong Kong is that this map doesn't even tell half the story, because you have 4 other bus operators competing for business with their own network that covers just as much, if not even more of the under serviced areas too.

And, if you want cheap, that can be had: The Tramway that operates on the island only cost $2.30 HKD (~30 cents US) and takes you from one end to the other.
 
If Toronto had four real transit operators competing for business in the city, the TTC would be dead.
Of course, they would just work together like telecoms to come to an agreement on pricing norms and choke all the cash out of consumers they could. Ontario loves it some monopolies.
 
EvilMario said:
If Toronto had four real transit operators competing for business in the city, the TTC would be dead.
Of course, they would just work together like telecoms to come to an agreement on pricing norms and choke all the cash out of consumers they could. Ontario loves it some monopolies.
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The problem is with volume of demand: Toronto runs into the issue of lack of demand for a lot of routes, and pretty much a government owned operator would tolerate 90% bus routes that aren't above break-even (as far as I remember, that's the number). It works in Hong Kong because you have all the modes competing against each other, and all modes compete with cost at the most ridiculous setup too!

For example: during business rush hour, crossing the harbour is always a major issue with traffic flow (with only 3 roadway tunnels crossing the island), you would expect that rail often is the way to go, but then there's the ferry operators (which is within walking distance of where subway/rail terminals are -which offer even cheaper and just as fast options for crossing over), bus operators which give discounts certain slightly off peak hours to encourage users to get off before the tunnel crossing and switch over, etc.
 
Dali said:
No. I currently live in a shitty ghetto city that keeps getting more ghetto and so the growth is away from the ghetto areas which is increasingly growing. As a result everything is spread out and there's no efficient way to get from the old parts to the nice new parts.
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Yup, that's Birmingham. The whole system is a joke.

We have buses, but no one uses them. Everytime I see a bus drive by there's maybe like 3 people on them. There's a system of trolleys downtown, but I don't know why you'd actually want to go downtown to use them. They could probably do pretty decently if they started something down HWY 280, but I don't think they'll ever do it as they've been talking about it for the past 30 years.
 
AlphaTwo00 said:
The problem is with volume of demand: Toronto runs into the issue of lack of demand for a lot of routes, and pretty much a government owned operator would tolerate 90% bus routes that aren't above break-even (as far as I remember, that's the number). It works in Hong Kong because you have all the modes competing against each other, and all modes compete with cost at the most ridiculous setup too!

For example: during business rush hour, crossing the harbour is always a major issue with traffic flow (with only 3 roadway tunnels crossing the island), you would expect that rail often is the way to go, but then there's the ferry operators (which is within walking distance of where subway/rail terminals are -which offer even cheaper and just as fast options for crossing over), bus operators which give discounts certain slightly off peak hours to encourage users to get off before the tunnel crossing and switch over, etc.
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Indeed. TTC is terrible at route management, and how to sort it out. I shake my head when there's five buses in a row playing leap frog on Dufferin route. They seem to 'try to' handle the issue with streetcars by short turning them when need be, but some of the short turns seem to make little, or no sense when they come, or why they come. It's evident if you follow the system via GPS on Nextbus like I do. They're totally lost.

Of course.. our issues at the TTC are far beyond just the routes and lack of demand on some routes, or lack of service on others. There are so many internal issues from funding, to an absurd strong union stopping basic advancements. We had to drag the TTC kicking and screaming over issues like stop announcements and accessibility in stations. So it cheeses me off when the head of the TTC goes off on how anything negative said about the TTC is wrong and it's the greatest transit system on the face of the planet. :/
 
love me some zürich transportation system.

one ticket is good for everything in the city zone you see on the map. doesn't matter what, be it bus, tram, train, or boat.

buy more zones, it's the same in the rest of the canton. one ticket and you can take any transport in that zone. did i mention i love this?

ScreenShot2012-07-19at114234PM.png
 
CT-Line-Map_Nov_2011.gif


current Calgary c-train map. There is a major west expansion coming soon though.

If you live close enough to the C-train, or can drive to the stations and park it is a fantastic way to get downtown and around the city. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved here from Vancouver.

I am not a huge fan of the bus system here though. Frequently early, late or no show. I use the bus to get to school...
 
No!

I live in Tsukuba, there is no public transit that serves the city other than a bus service that isn't always on time and very pricey, the Tsukuba Express only connects Tsukuba with Tokyo and the closest station is about a 30 minute walk from the University.


mujun said:
Osaka
http://flic.kr/p/B9dpX

Price - Decent for the most part. From a suburb to the city will cost you around 250-300 yen.
Timeliness - Close to perfect. Unlike the public transport in Brisbane, Australia where I lived most of my life the trains are almost on time to the minute.
Coverage - Look at the map. Pretty much every part of the city is covered.
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I miss living in Osaka. I used to ride the Kintetsu all the time, it is cheaper than any other alternative for most routes.
 
I live in Queens and work in Manhattan. I use the MTA Subway every day. Very happy with it for the most part. Can be dodgy on the weekends and is hot as fuck in the summer, but can't argue too much when most lines are 24/7 every day of the year and goes to pretty much every neighborhood. Being able to go out drinking and not worry about trying to drive home is pretty awesome. I don't even own a car.

Buses are pretty good as well. There's a bus not far from me that takes me right to the LaGuardia airport. I just use my monthly MTA card. Pretty awesome.
 
Berlin.

Awesome public transportation.
Huge mixture between a train and metro system.
Additional cable car and bus service (not shown on map).



Lately I tend to use carsharing if I need to go home at night. I could take the PT anytime
but I save between 15-30m by car (only at night).

www.car2go.com
 
York: 1/10

Shocking. It's too small for a metro system but the bus system is appallingly expensive, so much so that I just walk/drive everywhere.

Manchester: 6/10 http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/Metrolink map June 2012.pdf

Metrolink is pretty good, but a bit slow and expensive. The city centre is quite small so there's not really much of a need for a proper metro system, but the free bus system is good, if a little held back by traffic (the centre needs to be pedestrianised). Buses are cheap though so that's good.

Kaohsiung: 8/10 http://www.thismonthintaiwan.com/Kaohsiung_MRT_Map.jpg

Amazing, cheap MRT system but it doesn't have enough coverage. Buses are unreliable but cheap.
 
giga said:
Atlanta highways almost any time during the day:



Our pathetic excuse of public transport called MARTA that doesn't reach any of the important burbs where everyone lives:

500px-MARTA_Rail_Map.svg.png


If you don't have a car and want to go anywhere outside the city, good luck. Here's some stats. Yes, only 22% of jobs here are reachable via transit within 90 minutes:

I0WyE.png
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Yup. If possible, I would take MARTA everywhere, but the overall range is just so pathetic in comparison to other transit systems, and there's always been resistance to expand MARTA to the areas that actually need them due to people's fears of the "types of people" that could come into the suburbs from downtown and all that kind of nonsense.
 
RBH said:
Yup. If possible, I would take MARTA everywhere, but the overall range is just so pathetic in comparison to other transit systems, and there's always been resistance to expand MARTA to the areas that actually need them due to people's fears of the "types of people" that could come into the suburbs from downtown and all that kind of nonsense.
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There's a referendum to fund additional lines, no?
 
CTA-Parking-Locations-Map.jpg
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Chicago's trains (on the map) are great- it's easy to get downtown, or anywhere else they go if you're on the line. The problem is that the Loop is a hub, the trains aren't a mesh network like the subways in London (the best transit system I've ever used). To get from an outlying neighborhood on one line to one on another, you either have to go downtown then back out, or use a bus. And Chicago's buses have pretty good frequency and coverage, but they're sloooooow, because of being stuck in congestion from cars. The CTA really needs to speed the buses up with dedicated lanes, signal priority, prepaid boarding at some stops...anything.
 
I hate the public transit system in Los Angeles. If I drive it takes me 15 minutes to get to work. By mass transit... 70 minutes. Not joking.
 
London, Ontario here. It's all buses, no need for an LRT for us. I've only been here a little under a year but I've no major complaints. The bus I take to/from work seems to be consistent with it's timing and appropriate as per the schedule.

Ra\/en said:
CT-Line-Map_Nov_2011.gif


current Calgary c-train map. There is a major west expansion coming soon though.

If you live close enough to the C-train, or can drive to the stations and park it is a fantastic way to get downtown and around the city. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved here from Vancouver.

I am not a huge fan of the bus system here though. Frequently early, late or no show. I use the bus to get to school...
Click to expand...

The C-Train is good, but busses suck! When I lived there, there were far too many occasions where the bus was too early so I had to wait for the next one, or so late that by the time the bus I was waiting for came there'd be a bus on the same route right behind it.
 
We just have buses here in Kitchener-Waterloo. After years of people bitching about cost we're finally getting a Rail Line.

The main bus routes are fine for the most part and the non main ones suck. Little to no weekend service, late buses or buses that don't even come at all. It's terrible. Hell they can't even supply enough buses for the main route sometimes. I've waited at a bus stop for a bus on the 7 route during rush hour when one is supposed to come every 5 minutes and I'll watch 7 buses go by the other direction before one finally comes on my side of the road.

I wish we had a transit system like the ones I've used while on vacation in Miami, LA, SF, Boston etc.

Price wise it's $68/month but that's going up a lot over the next few years. The percentage paid for by taxes id dropping by a lot. amd we're getting double digit percentage increases in fare hikes annually over the next few years to accommodate that change.
 
Septa got new cars for regional rail apparently. Riding on one now. It's nice, I'm happy and will get off not feeling dirty
 
Philadelphia actually has fairly decent mass transit when it comes down to it.

The subway coverage isn't fantastic, and it needs expansion down to the Navy Yard, and possibly a new Roosevelt Blvd line. The real gem is the regional rail coverage. The map below has both the subway/el coverage along with the regional rail coverage:

700.jpg


The other nice thing about Philadelphia is that in the city core you can get a bus on pretty much every single corner of every street. This PDF shows the coverage, with bus routes marked in red.

The subway is kind of dirty but it's cheap and quick and runs frequently. When the subway closes for the night they run buses along its route for late night commuting. A monthly pass for the city itself is around $80, and you can get an unlimited pass that covers all regional rail stops (so basically coverage to all suburbs) for $200 a month.

Another big perk is the PATCO line, which will take riders various town in NJ, and is linked to NJ transit. Additionally, AMTRAK services the NE corridor and you can catch AMTRAK trains from 30th street station. It runs from DC to Boston, and includes the high speed Acela line.

One thing not many people know is that you can take NJ transit trains from Philadelphia to NYC for $15.50 one way. It's amazingly cheap, but the ride is fairly long at around 3 hours. The other alternative is to take AMTRAK which is something like $70 one way, but that trip is half as long.
 
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
One thing not many people know is that you can take NJ transit trains from Philadelphia to NYC for $15.50 one way. It's amazingly cheap, but the ride is fairly long at around 3 hours. The other alternative is to take AMTRAK which is something like $70 one way, but that trip is half as long.
Click to expand...

You have to ride Septa's Trenton Line to get to a NJT train at Trenton first.
 
Entropia said:
The C-Train is good, but busses suck! When I lived there, there were far too many occasions where the bus was too early so I had to wait for the next one, or so late that by the time the bus I was waiting for came there'd be a bus on the same route right behind it.
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I have the same complaint about the Bus system. My bus is supposed to be at my stop at 8:05am but really comes anywhere between 7:50-8:15. The bus is supposed to come every 25 minutes so I just go out 25 minutes earlier than the latest time I can tolerate leaving. I've gone out as early as 7:50 to watch my bus leave. Sometimes it does not come again until 8:30 :P.

OH well. I miss Vancouver buses. I can tolerate +/- 5 min for the bus schedule. Traffic is tough to predict. But 15 +/-? lol.
 
Hate public transit.

I live just north of Toronto and if I want to take the subway I have to take a bus ride on the Viva first, which takes around 40 minutes. A Viva ticket also costs $3.50 along with subway fare, and a trip ends up costing nearly $15 there and back.

This past winter the Viva went on strike and if I were to stay late at school I would have to take the subway and a TTC bus which would be around a 2 hour trip.

Thank God I'm getting my license in a couple of weeks.
 
wbsmcs said:
Hate public transit.

I live just north of Toronto and if I want to take the subway I have to take a bus ride on the Viva first, which takes around 40 minutes. A Viva ticket also costs $3.50 along with subway fare, and a trip ends up costing nearly $15 there and back.

This past winter the Viva went on strike and if I were to stay late at school I would have to take the subway and a TTC bus which would be around a 2 hour trip.

Thank God I'm getting my license in a couple of weeks.
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God Bless the 401.

iKWw71R3rYPYo.png
 
It isn't really fair to compare the TTC's subway system with cities like NY and London, even more so with big Asian cities because we just don't have the population density. I also remember reading that our soil conditions make it difficult to build subways in, which drives up the cost/km. Of course there's politics and a crappy planning process getting in the way, but all in I'm pretty satisfied with out transit system. If LRT catches on and the DRL gets built, I'll be happy.

Actually, even the fact that pretty much 99% of buses have air conditioning now makes me happy, lol. And the GPS system. Text them any stop number and you get the arrival time. So good.
 
I think Seattle's prices are reasonable, but do wish that the light rail system went out a bit further and had more parking at the station. More kiosks for reloading ORCA cards at places like local malls would also be nice.
 
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