Are You Good With Public Transit?

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I obsessed over public transit. Just after the ten cent subway fare went into effect in New York City, they introduced free transfer points between the various lines ( IRT, BMT and Independent). I immediately figure a way of riding the entire system on one dime which I proceeded to do. I was ten and a half years old at the time. It was a blast.

ruveyn

I'm living in a rural area and I simply need my car to get to somewhere where I can catch a train or bus. (Weird, ins't this?)

By and large the deal is that I will do shopping and whatever that I can do in the next village (or at most the village after that) by car and everything else by public transport. I used to live in a big city for a couple of years and I did not have a car back than. That was alright, simply because the public transport system works so much better in cities than out here in the province.

I actually like going to the next big city by train. Most of the time, I spend the train journey either sleeping or reading (that depends largely on the time of day). Once I am in the city, I love to ride the streetcars they have there. I hardly ever sleep on those, because it is so very interesting to watch the other people there. Sometimes I hardly can believe the things tehy do!

By and large I think that people should rely more on public transportation so as to reduce pollution and street clogging, but I admit that I prefer to use my car whenever I have to transport anything that is too heavy and/or too big to carry comfortably.

The only thing about public transport that I do NOT like is that most trains and busses are so unbelievable dirty (which is no wonder, seeing how some people behave inside them...) and that the seats are always so narrow. Don't get me wrong, I'm of average weight for my size and I'm not saying there should be oversized seats for heavyweight people on every vehicle. That would take a lot of logistics in the trains and streetcars they use around here...
But they put the seats so closely together that you can simply not sit down without getting into somebody's personal space and in most cases not even without actually touching complete strangers. Most of the time I can handle that, but some days I am so sick of getting touched that I will prefer to either stand in the bus or cover the distance on foot.

i carry a little foldable new york city subway map with me all of the time. i am obsessed with new york city, and i study the map for my future visit (or that's what i tell myself).

i also carry bus schedules (my 14 most common routes), a general transit overview map, and a light rail transit (train) schedule for my city. they are organized numerically and holepunched .

i am fairly certain i will not ever be able to drive, so i work with what i can to make things run smoothly.

I hate buses, because I feel sick in them. I avoid them and cars as much as I can.
Trams are trains are ok. They don't have this horrible fuel smell what makes me sick.

yes i am very well behaved on the bus, in january i'll be on a bus for 2-3 days because i dont really like flying when i go visit my dad, also some bus stations are scary. like the one in san fransico

i'll be shure not go go downstiars where all the homeless gather this time.

listen im packing valuebales, and i need to keep it that way!

What buses are they running out here?

I can say that is definitely my Aspie interest there. In the Bay Area public transit is adequate - SF Muni runs an OK train system and a decent to bad bus system. I attribute that to their penchant of buying things on lowest bid only to find out that their 2 out of their 4 bus suppliers went out of business - Muni's bus fleet is mostly comprised of Neoplan USA and ETI/Skoda buses, which both of them are no longer operating in the US. AC Transit runs MCI, NABI, and Van Hool buses and the Van Hools are HORRIBLE as they are not built for American roads. Everyone else runs Gillig, MCI, New Flyer and Orion buses - I think Orions are garbage. The Gilligs are built locally in Hayward. The MCI commuter coaches are NICE.

I get on OK, but I think that is mainly that I have been exposed to using the bus all my life. My family didn't have a car til I was 8 so I was never used to having one growing up. Even when we did have one I didn't get rides to school or anything, so it was basically walk or get the bus.

My main problem is if it is very busy so you have to sit next to a stranger. I often have to get the bus during rush hour now to get to university but it still bothers me. There's never enough room that I can not have someone touching me, like their elbow brushing on my arm or something, and that makes me stressed. Also being late is unpleasant, especially if it's not my fault.

I'd like to drive, I took some lessons a while back but I couldn't afford enough to get a license. Lessons are incredibly expensive here, and it would cost just as much to get insurance on someone's car to get informal lessons. I don't like to have people I know teaching me something either, because if I get things wrong I will be snappy, even though it's myself I am annoyed at. I know it upsets people so I avoid it now. I found driving awfully taxing too, what with being shut in alone with a stranger and being forced to interact, not to mention having to focus so hard on the road.

I think for now I will stick with the bus.

I'm 36 and I've never learned to drive and even if I did, I would never be able to afford to own a car. But the transit system in Cape Breton where I live STINKS! The times the buses arrive are much too far apart and I usually have to walk maybe a couple of kilometers to the nearest one. The bus drivers often start before I get a chance to sit down and I'm lucky I don't fall and injure myself sometimes! Last week a cruise ship arrived in the city harbor so there were a lot of tourists. I had decided to take the bus home from the mall where my mother had drove me to after lunch. It was packed like sardines! There was hardly room to breathe there were so many people! I was lucky to even get a seat but I thought I was never going to reach home... or close enough to home so I can walk the rest of the way. I was pretty proud of myself for handling it so well and didn't freak out or have a meltdown with so many people invading my personal space. Even so, i don't plan to take the bus again anywhere until maybe the middle of November!
Maybe if I lived in Halifax or another major city it would be different...

I don't like sitting next to strangers either, I don't mind sitting next to a stranger in the seats facing sideways so much, but I feel uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger when the seats are facing forwards. If the only seats are facing forwards and I have to sit next to a stranger, I normally just stand.

I dislike public transit: weird people, you have to wait for the bus to come and the buses are all dirty.

Have you considered the train as an alternative? I don't think the homeless, etc. like the train much, so better for you?

No. I prefer to drive anyway. I can say who goes in my vehicle..less people to deal with and I can get to where I want to go without the fear of missing my stop.

I live in London and the public transport here is extensive. I have a Freedom Pass (due to my disabilities) that allows me to travel on any London public transport for free. I like using the underground when it's quiet so I leave home at 6.20am to go to uni to miss the rush our. I can't use public transport during the rush hour otherwise I will have a severe panic attack. The government has funded me a taxi service (also due to my disabilities) to take me to uni when the rush hour is on. I also like using the taxi. I am not able to drive, and even if I could I wouldn't

I rely on the transit system to get around, and I know it like the back of my hand.

However, I hate taking it around. I hate having to work my travel schedule around it. The bus service in this part of metro Vancouver is inadequate, infrequent, and sometimes sparse. I have a job that has me getting off at around 11:30 at night, with only enough time to catch the last bus of the night, and even still I have to walk about a mile because the bus that runs to my home from where I get off the bus from my workplace no longer runs.

I spend a lot of time wishing I could drive, but I don't know if I could cope with the other drivers around here. (We've got a lot of bad drivers around here.) I could never afford to drive anyway. Besides... $45 gives me unlimited transit for a whole year.

I love taking the train if I get a window seat as I can just get lost in my thoughts. I tried driving lessons when I was 17 but really didn't enjoy it - I find it hard to read people's intentions so I'm never sure where they're going (I frequently walk into people by mistake). That said, I love walking and will happily walk several miles to get somewhere rather than take public transport.

I can't get a disability pass, we have them but I don't fit their rules, if you can use public transit without assistance, you can't get one.

Tory_Canuck, it seems to me, for me, there are more people to deal with in a car. I don't know because I have never driven.