What is your opinion of Public Transportation?

[Doctor Amadeus]

By that I mean Buses, Trains, Light Rail, Trolly, Bikes, and Self Driving Cars (In the Works).

What is your opinion of Public Transportation?

I never enjoyed it personally, and always liked the freedom of driving, on the other hand I am for sure for it, I have some friends and neighbors who believe Public Transportation can only bring undesirable elements of people, to rural areas.

What about you, what is your take and experience have you ever tried to use any of the above. If so what are some ways to improve it, do you enjoy some but not all if so which forms.

[Puupi]

Always hated public transportation and avoid it if I just can.

I prefer my own car or walk with my own feet.

[nymphetsss]

A bike is public transportation? As a contractor its never a good option for me, I also see it as a thing only for poor people , the time to money ratio doesnt make sense like if a bus takes an hour and i can drive in 15 mins thats like 75$ in lost wages because i could have been working for those 45 min

[Adam Jensen]

The US needs more of it.

When I was in Reston, I could take the Metro into Washington DC on weekends and go exploring. It's hard to do that in a lot of towns and cities in the US where trains and busses aren't so readily available or cheap.

[Rozz]

I live in the US and every form of public transport I've taken has smelled like piss, taken forever, and is an all around terrible experience.

I honestly hate driving, but if I could have the smooth transit of other nations I'd choose that over a car in a heartbeat.

[Boricha]

It's hard to come by here. I found it very useful when I was in big cities like NYC and London. Maybe it's different when you have to use it every day with rush hour and whatnot, but cars are a similar situation. I wish the US had a robust train system like England or Japan.

[Utinil]

It really depends on where you live. In large cities where almost everyone lives stacked on top of each other they are an absolute necessity. If you live anywhere where people own houses with actual yards they just aren't practical. My commute to work takes me roughly 15 minutes each way by private car. If I used the rtd (but as and light rail it would take me 2 hours 14 minutes. With 2 transfers. More busses/light rail stations wouldn't be economical. Also the RTD costs $3 each way (yes I know there are monthly passes) compared with the $1 I would spend on a half gallon of gas and it becomes uneconomical too.

[Kokolums]

San Francisco is a nightmare of fares that are different for every stop when it comes to the subway. San Francisco makes it VERY expensive to cross the bay on the subway. It costs $5 one-way and learning about monthly passes is very difficult which I kinda suspect is done on purpose to keep people from Oakland from easily reaching San Francisco. The Muni Adult Monthly pass grants unlimited rides for 1 month but only within San Francisco - it does not cover trips across the bay to Oakland which still are about $5 one way (so that's $200 per month JUST to cross the bay 5x per week if you commute to work!). San Francisco even stations a horde of real live human ticketpeople in major subway stations so that people can ask for advice, and even THEN when you talk to them its extremely confusing. A ticketperson will hand you a large booklet to "help" that is ridiculous in complexity. I am holding a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Fares and Schedules booklet in my hands right now. It is 31 pages long. Page 3 has a chart that lists all 45 stops on the subway and lists the individual prices for each of them. The rest of the pages list every arrival time for every subway in the system. Some stations go 3 maybe even 4 levels deep so you can't just go to the right station but be on the correct floor.

In Los Angeles, you buy a plastic card for $1 at a vending machine. You can load it with a monthly pass for $100 that covers unlimited rides ANYWHERE in the metro Los Angeles area, including subways and buses. For I think $125 per month you can add unlimited rides on the express buses which can take you super fast to Dodger Stadium or Disneyland or Magic Mountain etc. The end.

This video is sideways but here is the booklet.

https://vimeo.com/310901404

[tangers58]

Commie propaganda

[NED funded]

The greatest thing humanity has invented, we need more of it and people that drive cars are literally evil for choosing that over public transportation or just plain walking.

[Rysthruun]

Trash in the US. Amazing in other countries I’ve lived.

So, it depends.

It's pretty much trash wherever you go. Nothing but weirdos, junkies, and nasty stuff. I've seen a lot of fucked up shit on public transportation and it isn't just a US issue.

[anveena]

I prefer using my car or bike over public transportation.

[tangers58]

It's pretty much trash wherever you go. Nothing but weirdos, junkies, and nasty stuff. I've seen a lot of fucked up shit on public transportation and it isn't just a US issue.

Its absolutely just a US issue. Sure there are weirdos no matter where you go, but the filthy cars, ridiculously spread out routes, and failure to keep a basic time schedule are much worse here than the rest of the world. Having efficient public transport would cut into corporate profits too much so any such project is heavily lobbied against.

[kasuke06]

depends. trains are useful. busses are filled with homeless and reek of piss. the trolly in SF is fun.

mostly I do not like it.

[Shadowferal]

NJ Transit system was fairly awesome when I needed it every day.
Though I've been driving for a long while now I still see it as an option.

[Lothaeryn]

Ive only experienced public transportation in two places: the US and Turkey.

While I generally loved transportation in Turkey, there are a number of challenges that the US would need to overcome to make it even as remotely viable, mainly in that the US has a huge rural region that never gets covered by current PT, generally if you live in large suburbs or rural regions there are no forms of PT available at all, you'd be walking a good mile or two to even get to a designated stop, and most of them do not cover the general areas one would need to go for specific goods and needs.

The other is just a cultural issue overall. I've always known about the less palatable underbelly of the public that uses PT in the US, but have thankfully never had to encounter it. Turkey has never had this issue due to their own cultural expectations in etiquette. You'd pretty much be blacklisted on the spot for the kind of shit most people get away with in the US. Worst ive seen on a bus in Turkey is a few men who were obviously out for a few drinks (and still singing) before taking the bus home.

Due to the fact that the latter issue is never going to change in a single generation, it causes an aversion to fund or restructure the former issue. Had the US a similar transportation industry like turkey, it likely would create new jobs, while reducing the amount of cars on the road at the same time, which could theoretically reduce accidents and traffic due to having fewer vehicles on the road; but due to this stigma of how PT is viewed in the US, combined with the general view that owning your own vehicle is more liberating and part of the American Dream ideal, it is almost impossible to suggest reformation of the US public infrastructure outside of major city hubs.

[Frogguh]

The greatest thing humanity has invented, we need more of it and people that drive cars are literally evil for choosing that over public transportation or just plain walking.

I'm going to assume you're trolling so I don't have to wonder how someone that stupid could operate a computer.

[Shadowferal]

hmf...some people live in small enough countries that public transport is pretty easy to use to get to where you gotta go.
The US however...well, going from NYC to the Grand Canyon in AZ isn't going to be a day trip.

[Daedius]

Some of it needs security... currently have an issue of feral delinquents using the DART going from town to town violently assaulting travellers and locals of those towns. The services ought to be held accountable for letting these lil' shits for travelling unhindered.

[Kokolums]

What's the difference between Mr. Pinchy's wife and the Deeprun Tram? One is a busty crustacean the other is a crusty bus station.