How is Public Transportation Like Where You Are?

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Holy hell we got some folks here that are so reliant/annoyed by it that they’ve taken to making fantasy maps of how they wish the subway was.

Fantasy map:



Real map:



I’m a staunch supporter of affordable public transportation. I haven’t used it much in years, but before I could drive I remember how frustrating it could be. And I’m from the Greater Boston area where public transportation is comparatively amazing. I’ve lived in other areas around the country where public transportation is much, much worse.

What is it like where you are?

[ayumidah]

We have busses. The bus system here seems really nice. I haven't had the opportunity to take it yet (certain people are WEIRD about it), but I see the busses all over town going on their way, and everyone I've talked to have good things to say about it.

[Ultimo Gallos]

LOL public transportation what is that....

Wasn't until a few years ago I learned there is cabs and UBER locally.

But yea tiny rural town no bus no subway no public transportation. Outside of the bus,that covers 3 counties,and is for handicapped and elderly.

[BlackoutCreature]

Well a train just derailed on an elevated structure near where I live, so I'll let that speak for itself.

[Push R Truth]

In my corner of America the only public transportation is when the cops take you to jail.

[Cyno]

I'd normally say how great my area's public transportation is, especially compared to the rest of the country. But we've had two train derailments in the span of a week. So.

New Jersey itself has a pretty robust public train system in the northern and central parts of the state with NJ Transit, though once you get south of Monmouth County you're pretty SOL. SEPTA runs a regional rail line between Trenton and some of the West Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia that goes to a hub where you can catch a train to Philly proper. Other than that, there's a single NJT line from Philly to Atlantic City and that's it.

At least it isn't LA. I took a look at their railway map and it's really sad.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jan 10, 2024 13:56:59 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

In my corner of America the only public transportation is when the cops take you to jail.

They had that when I lived in Southern California too only instead of taking you to jail they’d take you to Santa Ana. If police spotted homeless people in a ritzy area like Newport Beach or Irvine they’d just take them to Santa Ana which is a comparatively depressed area (it might have change since).

Unfortunately, I don’t think that practice is exclusive to SoCal because I’ve heard of it happening here too. If too many homeless are spotted in Melrose just take them to a crappy area of Wakefield. Don’t bother processing or you know actually helping the poor. Just get them out of sight.

[Dr. T is an alien]

There are 3 bus lines that operate in my hometown. The university runs one and it primarily runs on campus but there is a shuttle that runs to the mall where a number of people park. They also used to run a shuttle to the state Capitol an hour away, but I think Covid finally killed that service.

The city has their own bus service that a number of high school students prefer to take over their school buses. There’s about 20 routes that the city manages. They also have vans to transport special needs riders. The main buses are wheelchair accessible, but they have the expanded service all the same.

Lastly, there’s a county bus service that brings people from around the county into the city. Their main hub is near the city bus hub by design, but they also have their own routes and stops in town.

Actually, there are a few other bus services, but they aren’t for the public. These are mainly for senior communities and some apartment complexes.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Jan 10, 2024 14:07:15 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Jan 10, 2024 13:56:59 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

In my corner of America the only public transportation is when the cops take you to jail.

They had that when I lived in Southern California too only instead of taking you to jail they’d take you to Santa Ana. If police spotted homeless people in a ritzy area like Newport Beach or Irvine they’d just take them to Santa Ana which is a comparatively depressed area (it might have change since).

Unfortunately, I don’t think that practice is exclusive to SoCal because I’ve heard of it happening here too. If too many homeless are spotted in Melrose just take them to a crappy area of Wakefield. Don’t bother processing or you know actually helping the poor. Just get them out of sight.

Indianapolis is pretty bad about that too. Panhandling is illegal and being homeless essentially is too, based on the ways they’ve written their vagrancy laws. If you’re lucky, when you get picked up as a vagrant you might be shipped to Bloomington, where the city itself is only slightly better than Indy (panhandling is legal but they do tend to break up any homeless camps that get set up). Fortunately, there are those that step up to help them. There are a number of shelters, a couple of places that feed anyone that comes in their doors, places that provide clothing, laundry services, mailboxes, social service access, etc., so it’s definitely a more humane city than Indy despite some of their own problems.

[Kalmia]

The buses are awful and unreliable, but they're there. You can get a train to most major cities (if you can get to the train station on the awful buses) and we have a tram system that is getting expanded to the cost of millions and multiple delays.

I miss living in Tokyo though. Having a fantastic and reliable train system is so much better than crappy buses and owning a car. It's not only better for the environment but gets you walking more as well. I'd happily sell my car and never drive again if the public transport system here was better.

[Bo Rida]

Really good, frequent buses, good routes, can get the train all sorts of places. Can even take the train under the sea and be in a foreign capital city in 3-5 hours.

The downside is it’s all stupidly expensive. The buses are dirty and take forever at peak times, the trains are unreliable and strike prone.

[Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite]

Good ol' SEPTA here in Philadelphia

We've got subways, busses and Regional Rail.

I still catch the subway a few times a year, you'll see your share of strange shit going down

[Powerline]

In Kansas City there's a bus system and the railcar that's getting expanded. It's nice but has plenty of room for improvement. It's almost impossible to completely or even mostly depend on public transportation in KC, you gotta do a decent amount of the driving yourself at the very least.

Plus we still have toll booths on the Kansas side, which is just silly in the 21st century, let alone 2024.

UBER and rideshares work if you're IN the city, but if you begin to go even a little out of the city limits to one of the suburbs of KC, good luck.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

As someone who apparently travelled almost 12,000 miles by rail last year the trains are generally pretty good (the strikes that have been ongoing for the last 15 months notwithstanding). Buses are another matter, though – the local service is so woefully underfunded and the staff are treated so poorly that it's not uncommon for buses to simply disappear from the live tracker app without explanation and subsequently never turn up. Quite often the last bus of the night, as well, meaning my £2 fare to get to work becomes a £17 taxi.

[06vwgti]

non existent.

[Natural Born Farmer]

For getting around in the general Dallas area, it's pretty good.  DART train and busses will get you most places you need to go in the city and suburbs.

But you need to go north of Carrollton or west of UTD you're pretty much SOL, and even within that area there are some pockets you can't get to, usually because the satellite city refused to join the network.

[Hit Girl]

It was privatised decades ago, and is predictably shite.

[cosmo]

I live in a very rural area, so it's literally nonexistent. The closest thing resembling a bus or a taxicab or even an Uber is about an hour's drive away.

[Nosnorb]

Not good, it's privatised with two different companies running essentially the two different sides of the city, the Metro system only serves one side of the city and doesn't go to the less affluent West End and as more car centric new builds get built, the bus services are cut due to company greed.

[fg]

One of the things that we have in Southwest Florida is the Lee County Transit System (buses.)

In contrast two or three hours up north in Tampa, there is the TECO streetcar

www.tecolinestreetcar.org/

Yes, my area and Tampa area are two different worlds.