If yes, why and where do you live?

41 comments

  3. When I lived on the East Coast, (NYC, CT, Boston) I would take the Amtrak all the time.

    Now I live in LA and drive everywhere.

  4. Local transit doesn’t exist in any sense useful to me. I would have to carefully select where I live and work around it, greatly limiting my options and I’d still have to drive regularly.

    Long distance, also no. I don’t regularly travel a short enough distance for busses or trains to be viable, at least not to anywhere that HAD a train or frequent bus and even if I did I would need a car when I got to the other end.

  5. Nope. Most transit options near me would make my trip 2-3x longer for everyday trips to things like the store or work. Just getting to the nearest light rail station is a 20 minute drive. Buses are better but take forever to go anywhere.

    For longer trips, my last three trips have been LA, Denver, and Detroit:

    – The 7 hour drive/80 minute flight to LA would be an 11 hour bus ride. There is no train option
    – The 2 hour flight to Denver would be a 26 hour bus ride. There is no train option
    – The 4-6 hour flight or 3 day (12 hours per day) drive to/from Detroit would be a 50 hour bus ride. Train is available, but the first trip I selected was 60 hours (only about 8 of it on bus/train)

    Transit options are just impractical from a time perspective in all cases for me. If high-speed rail options existed to any of those locations, I would likely have tried them at some point; I hate flying and driving isn’t much better. There just isn’t an option.

  6. Nope. Busses in my county kinda blow, and i’d have to leave for work earlier. Although my employer is partnered with the local transit company, and they run a worker driver program that lots of people use.

  7. As far as trains go, no. But, I wish it was more feasible.

    Currently, if I was to leave tomorrow to Chicago, it would be $115 one-way to take the Amtrak. If I drove my car it would be probably be about $50 in gas in my econobox car and another $40 in tolls. So, not only would it be cheaper to drive, but it would be about 2 hours shorter too. So if you have a car, it makes sense to drive.

    There are routes that make sense. To get from Pittsburgh to NYC, it makes much more economical sense to take the Amtrak, and most people I know opt to do that and take the extra couple hours of travel, or fly, rather than drive because having a car as a tourist in NYC is hell.

    Amtrak takes a backseat to freight/commercial rail in priority on most tracks, with expectation to lines they own/operate like the northeast corridor DC-> Boston. This unfortunately makes most the travel times less than ideal.

    There are some railways doing some good. Heard positive things about brightline in south Florida and there are developments happening that could change the status quo, would love for rail travel to be a more viable option here.

  8. I’d like to but I really can’t. It’s about a 15 minute drive to the nearest bus station, and taking the bus would take longer than driving, and the buses can be sketchy sometimes. The trains here aren’t useful at all to me.

  9. Used it a lot in Pullman Washington, where I went to college. Saved gas money, didn’t have to risk driving in the icy conditions and I could study on the bus.

  11. I don’t use the buses in my city. They’re too slow and infrequent to be useful. Most buses only run every 30-60 minutes even at peak hours, so you have to plan your whole schedule around the bus, and if you have to transfer, your trip is going to take a ridiculous amount of time. Also most of them stop running by 7 PM.

    I do take the train when I’m going to New York, which is once or twice a year. It takes longer than driving but it’s a lot easier than dealing with traffic and parking. I wish it were faster though. For comparison it’s about the same distance from London to Edinburgh by train, but takes 3 hours longer. If I’m traveling within Virginia or up to DC, the extra time isn’t worth it and the trains aren’t frequent enough.

  14. Trains are really a high cost, low class method of travel in the US.

    I’ve traveled Amtrak. It’s more expensive than driving, and sometimes even flying. The routes are not at convenient times (midnight and 3AM). The trains are not clean. There aren’t real food options. You get whatever seat is available. There are some sketchy people on the train. And the stations don’t drop you off anywhere convenient.

    I make enough money to not want to sacrifice my safety and comfort.

  15. I live in Michigan and I don’t use them. They’re slow and inefficient and I have no issues driving.

  16. I haven’t been on a train in 20 years. I haven’t been on a bus in 8. It’s just not really a thing for about half of Americans.

  17. I use public transport when I go downtown and sometimes when I travel. It’s cheaper and more convenient for me, plus I get to look at the architecture which I cannot do while driving.

    I would not use Greyhound buses or Amtrack most likely, the hours are terrible, the local stations unsafe.

  18. No. Doesn’t exist by me.

    I’m also not a fan of public transportation as a concept. Way more inconvenient and uncomfortable than just driving myself.

    Having to ***massively*** limit what I can do, where I can go, working my entire life around an arbitrary schedule that I don’t have any say over, and having to do it all with the company of the kind of strangers that I used to see at bus stops back when i lived in a place that had those sounds like an absolutely *horrible* trade for not having to pay for gas.

    One of the worst trade deals in the history of deals. Maybe ever.

    Plus I’d still end up paying for gas anyway because even if I did live in a place with public transportation, all the places I usually go and the people I usually visit don’t.

  19. I used the school bus alot when I was kid. Kind of the only time I been on a bus. Never rode a train unless a monorail counts then yes I rode those in the airport connecting terminals.

  20. I commute to work everyday by bus. I also use it for everyday chores/transportation. I do not drive but my husband does. He occasionally uses the bus especially if we will be drinking.
    I live in Massachusetts.

  22. No and there isn’t really a scenario where I can. I live in rural SC. For Americans that don’t live near any kind of major population hub, not having a vehicle is extremely limiting.

  23. Not anymore. I used to do a 2.5 hour one way commute to NYC via NJtransit and the path, but not for like ten years. Used to take the subway a lot too. Where I live now, it wouldn’t work.

  24. I’ve rode on Amtrak a lot between LA, SF Bay Area, San Diego, and Sacramento. Also rode the bus a lot in LA. Amtrak varies train by train. LA Metro isn’t great, but not horrible.

  25. I take a train line called the south shore line to go to Chicago whenever I need to get to O’hare. It’s pretty cheap, only about 6 dollars to get me from here to Chicago. For reference, I only live 40 min away from the city.

  26. It really depends where somebody lives. In cities like Chicago, Boston, NYC, DC, there are subways and busses, and commuter rail that reaches out to the suburbs, plus taking public transit can be cheaper and more convenient than driving. Amtrak along the Boston/NYC/DC corridor is a reasonable choice to go from one to the other, with the plus is that the stations are right in the middle of the city, not an airport 10 or 20 miles outside the city. Longer-distance Amtrak is OK if a person has a lot of time. So Boston/NYC/DC to Chicago will take a day on the train, compared to a two-hour flight, although it will usually be cheaper than flying.

  27. No, there’s no public transportation in my town. The closest thing is a Greyhound bus station and city bus system about sixteen miles away.

  28. I live in Central Maryland.

    I use the commuter rail, aka the MARC, if I’m going to DC or Baltimore. Tickets are under $10, cheaper than gas/parking, the station is near my house, and it’s way less stressful than battling traffic then hunting for somewhere to park. The MARC is quick, clean and comfortable.

    When I lived in DC, I didn’t own a car and I took the Metro everywhere. When I lived in Baltimore, transit was much less reliable (buses often didn’t adhere to a schedule, etc) so I needed a car for at least some trips.

    I have used Amtrak for longer trips, such as to Philly or NYC, it’s not luxurious but it’s better than the bus and usually less stressful than driving.

    My in-laws tried the auto train from Florida so they could have their vehicle when visiting (they’re in Florida and almost everyone else is scattered from MD to CT). They said it was kind of a neat concept but a hassle in the execution. So now they fly, and can rent a car or borrow one of ours to get around and see people.

    I’m disabled and sometimes my ability to drive can be limited, so I focus on walkable communities and at least some access to transit. It’s important practically, and for my sense of independence and to prevent social isolation.

    I think that’s a conversation that gets missed when we discuss transit – it’s a social need, not a hip city mouse preference.

    As the US ages and gets more disabled (that long Covid wave, among other illnesses) our car culture is going to get less and less practical.

  29. No. About the only time I use public transportation is when I go to Atlanta for a sporting event at MBS.

  30. No and I wish I could. I live in a suburb just south of Jacksonville, FL. My commute is only 13 miles from work and the route is technically only down one street. Unfortunately, where I live there is no public transportation going that way. So, I ride a motorcycle.

  31. I take the bus or train to Boston fairly frequently. It is not exactly all that long distance, just 2 hours or so.

    Other than that no.

  32. Sometimes I’ll take the subway to get downtown if I don’t want to deal with driving/parking.

    I’ve also taken Amtrak to NYC, Toronto and Cleveland. The biggest issue is trains aren’t always convenient to catch.

  33. There are two type of intercity buses in the US. The first is really medium-distance doing disconnected routes between large cities, typically no further than 300 miles. This is Mega bus or sometimes Chinatown buses. They’re fairly cheap and on-time, and I’ve found them to be clean and decently comfortable. They’re only slightly slower than driving and usually slightly cheaper. Because they only connect large cities, you usually do not need a car on your destination, so it’s a decent choice.

    Longer distance is Greyhound, a nation-wide bus company that connects most large and many medium sized cities – eventually. It’s not good transportation. It takes a long time to drive long distances anyway and the buses will make regular extended stops. You will need to switch buses for any longer route and there almost certainly will be issues when that happens. Greyhounds are usually a last resort for those who must travel but currently can’t afford anything else, so they have a higher proportion of people not having a good day. On the East Coast at least, greyhound is notorious for putting stations in odd and sometimes unsafe neighborhoods – commercial areas with no access to public transportation is not uncommon.

    For trains, there’s an area called the Northeast Corridor, which connects Boston to Washington DC, where it is decently common to take a train (Amtrak is our intercity service) between cities. Other, longer routes exist that connect large cities across the US, but these are typically much slower than driving and can be expensive, and so are not commonly used.

    The main issue is that the vast majority of medium cities do not have a viable intracity public transportation system and are not walkable, so will require a car. If you need a car when you arrive, it makes sense to a lot of use to just drive. Or to fly and rent a car.

    Following my own advice, I will take a train or megabus in the Northeast corridor and no where else. Even Philly to Pittsburgh, two cities in my own state, roughly 4.5 hours drive, the train takes 8+ hours, and I’d rather just drive myself.

  34. All the time, I live in one of the few parts of the country with extensive public transit. Most people are gonna answer no though, that’s just how America is

  36. I live in Texas and no because we don’t have a lot of great transit. But when I lived in Seattle I commuted to work via the bus every day

  38. Yes I do! Public transportation is the only way I can get around as I don’t own a car. I live in downtown Chicago.

  40. rarely. longest train trip I’ve done in the us was about an hour long. did it because driving into nyc and parking there sounded like something I was very uninterested in doing. it’s pretty much the only destination for me where taking a train is feasible

  41. I took a train long distance many years ago. It took 24 hours to do what I could have driven in 12 hours. I haven’t been a long train ride since. If I go into a major city I don’t mind taking the subway or public transportation.

Leave a Reply
You May Also Like